Trade ministry to wage war on high interest rates

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Ekow Spio-Garbrah, has pledged the commitment of the ministry to embark on what he described as a ‘crusade against the high interest rate’ regime pertaining in the country.

‘Under my tenure as Minister of Trade and Industry, I will declare war on interest rates because we cannot embark on any meaningful industrialisation or private sector development when interest rates are killing them and I see US as one of our key allies in this endeavour,’ he said.

Dr Spio-Garbrah made the pledge when the US Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Gene A. Cretz, paid a courtesy call on him in Accra.

Presently, the interest rate in the country hovers around an average of 31 per cent, and it’s classified as one of the highest in Africa.

While the government complains about the impact of such high interest rate regime in the country, particularly on businesses, market analysts have blamed the government for the situation, saying that the rate at which it was borrowing internally was alarming.

For instance, the 91-day T-bills is now 25.90 per cent; 182-day bill is at 26.39 per cent while the GoG 1-year note is at 22.50 per cent.

As a result, among other factors, the banks are reluctant to lend money to businesses and individuals at lower rates.

He said Ghana imported everything but what had not been exploited is low interest rate loans to support the growth and development of a vibrant industrial sector, and the ministry was, therefore, going to embark on an aggressive crusade on this area.

Energy/minerals

‘It is a known fact that Ghana has a short term energy deficit and if we are to improve our industrialisation, we need a buoyant energy sector, and Ghana will welcome investors in this sector,’ he said.

On the country’s mineral resources, he said “Our mineral resources have not been effectively utilised. We have huge deposits of iron ore, bauxite and manganese which can be processed into a wide range of value added products for export”.

He said the country lacked a buoyant jewellery sector although it exported gold.  As a result, he said, “The time has come for us to look for strategic partners to process our gold into other products for the domestic market and export,” and noted that Ghana looked forward to investors in these sectors from the United States.

“Although Ghana prides itself as the third largest producer of cocoa in its raw form, we have not been able to significantly process them into chocolates and other products”.

Ghana/US relationship

Dr Spio-Garbrah has said the relationship between Ghana and US has improved significantly with Ghana benefiting immensely from the Millennium Development Account, AGOA among others, yet there are more opportunities that both countries have to exploit.

In his remarks, the US Ambassador, Gene A. Cretz, said the political stability in the country made it ideal for investment and gave the assurance that his office will work closely with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to promote bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.