The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director for Africa Abebe Selassie is asking government to channel more of its investment into education and health.
This, he believes would ensure that projected growth expected this year would bring about the required jobs.
IMF’s projected growth for Ghana
The IMF in its 2019 Economic Outlook report projected an end of year economic growth rate of 8.8 per cent. This could make Ghana one of the countries to record the highest growth in 2019.
However, there are concerns that this growth would not come along with the expected jobs in critical sectors of the economy.
IMF Africa boss on why investment in health and education is very important critical
Answering a question posed by JOYBUSINESS at the press conference by the Africa Department of IMF, Mr. Abebe noted that, government should continue to make sure that they “invest in human capita, schools, investing in the health of the population because those are ingredients need for creating jobs as the economy expands.”
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He also maintained that it is very important that government ensures that there are no distortions from the public sector in terms of macroeconomic aggregates.
Mr. Abebe also argued that policies must be in place to facilitate private sector investments that would help improve credit to sectors that would help create the required jobs in the country.
IMF Africa boss on post-IMF program for Ghana
Asked what Ghana should do to stay on course post-IMF program, Mr. Abebe said government must make sure that fiscal deficits remain manageable and ensure that the funds that government is borrowing are used on projects of a high rate of return.
The IMF Africa boss was also of the view that the Bank of Ghana must also make sure that calibration of monetary policy remains consistent with keeping inflation at bay and the exchange rate at competitive levels.
“You know the kind of things that government has been pursuing over the last couple of years and staying that course is what is important,” he said.
He, however, praised government for the reforms that it has instituted so far to strengthen institutions.
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