Don’t create new development bank — UCC panellists

Panellists on a post-budget forum at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) have advised the government to reconsider its decision to establish a new development bank.

According to the group, there was a huge opportunity to support the National Investment Bank (NIB), the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and the Ghana Export-Import (EXIM) Bank to do the same development financing that the new entity would be required to do.

The Department of Finance at the School of Business at the university’s College of Humanities and Legal Studies organised the post-budget forum to analyse the government’s economic policy statement and advise on the way forward.

Lecturers and students attended the post-budget discussion last Thursday at the UCC.

Panellists

The panellists included the Vice Dean of the School of Business, Dr Siaw Frimpong, as well as Messrs Seyram Kawor and Anthony Adu-Asare Idun, both lecturers.

According to them, the government should help support the existing banks that the state had already invested in to make them more effective.

The three panellists also encouraged the government to stick to its programmes meant to promote youth entrepreneurship.

Vice Dean

Dr Frimpong explained that the government’s taxation policy appeared to favour the rich and not the poor and that the trend should change.

The other panellists, Messrs Kawor and Idun, expressed the belief that more support should be given to the private universities as the removal of the 25 per cent corporate tax alone would not help them much.

They also disagreed with the approach to tariff reduction but welcomed the initiative to promote entrepreneurship among the youth.

The youth entrepreneurship promotion programmes include the $10-million National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP)), as well as the National Youth Authority’s (NYA) Steps Towards Employment and Productivity (STEP) under the Informal Youth Enterprise Development Programme (IYED).

HoD

The Head of Department (HoD), Dr John Gatsi, in his remarks, indicated that growth prospects for the country were good but did not deviate from the non-inclusive trend which did not respond to the expectations of Ghanaians.

He said growth in the industry sector was natural resource-driven and hence, the need to redirect the growth pattern of the economy.

Dr Gatsi added that effective corporate governance within banks and non-banking financial institutions with respect and protection of minority interests was crucial, as the expansion in the economy should be anchored on clean robust financial intermediation which did not necessarily depend on the establishment of a new bank.

He advised the government to deal with challenges surrounding the implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs because the initiative had great potential.