We need to ramp up our domestic savings, cut our coat according to our cloth – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has thrown more light on what Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said to the effect that Ghana was not in a rush to return to the capital market to borrow after the $ 3 billion bailout was approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Asked when the country would get back to the capital market, while speaking at the 3rd Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, May 23, the President said “There is no rush to get back but nevertheless, why can we not take advantage of global savings and make some, it makes a lot of sense to do that.

“What the Finance Minister said was that we are going to try as much as possible to maintain the discipline which is required, which is the most important prerequisite of a successful programme. That will mean ramping up our own domestic savings, being able to put systematic control of our public expenditure to make sure that we are always cutting our coat according to our cloth and giving the impetus to private sector investment. We are looking at that more than we are looking for assistance from the multilateral.”

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta earlier indicated that there was no rush on the part of the government to return to the international capital market to borrow following the coming on board the $3billion bailout from the Fund.

He said during a joint Ghana-IMF press conference in Washington on Thursday, May 18 when asked a question about Ghana returning to the capital market that “In addition to the revenue measures that we saw in the budget that are improving at GRA and that will give us the resource to move forward, curtailing and managing our expenditures are going to be important.

“There is no rush in going back to the international capital market, our expectation is that in managing our expenditure and increasing our revenue we will have the resources to do it. Working towards the capital market is important because we want to get our ratings up and make the country more attractive for investors, especially FDIs. So no one is rushing to the capital market at this juncture.”

The Board of the Fund unanimously approved Ghana’s bailout on Wednesday, May 17 at a meeting in Washington after Ghana secured the Paris Club financing assurance on Friday, May 12.