Govt to raise per capita GDP to US$4,500

The government is taking keen steps to raise per capita gross domestic products (GDP) from the current US$2,500 to US$4,500 by 2030, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

This, he said, would be aligned with the Ghana Beyond Aid Charter.

Delivering the State of the Nation Address (SoNA) at Parliament on March 8, the President noted that the government recognises that sustained growth must be deliberate, especially in a global landscape marked by forces of technology, trade, and intense competition.

He said this would require a combination of leadership, social cohesion, and deep investments in core capabilities of people, firms, and institutions to harness opportunities.

“This is why together with our private sector counterparts, we are anchoring Ghana’s medium-term growth drivers on competitiveness, integration, adaptation and digital innovation,” he said.

According to him, the arrangements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not restore the fortunes overnight, but it will set the country on the road to recovery.

He said that with fiscal discipline, the government will regain the trust and confidence of business partners and the investor community, which will provide space to continue the productive plans and policies.

Innovative ideas

The President noted that in further engagement with the fund, the government was seeking and implementing some original and innovative ideas to try to solve the problems.

He said for example, the Gold Purchase Programme by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Gold for Oil Policy were creative uses of resources, which were already bearing fruit.

He said these policies were aimed at achieving two results that were critical to the health of the economy.

“Firstly, they will help us preserve foreign exchange, especially the US dollar, and secondly, they will enable us to stabilise the price of oil products such as petrol and diesel on the domestic market.

“We have already seen some success on both fronts with the price of US dollars and petroleum products falling since we announced the policy and began to implement it,” he said.