The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo has urged Ghanaians to support the government in revenue generation by adhering to the proposed measures that the government has delivered through the budget.
The President made this statement in a speech during the celebration of the 38th Farmer’s Day in Ghana on the 2nd of December, which took place at the Jubilee Park in Eastern Region.
In his speech, the president explained that by adhering to the proposals in the budget, we are much more inclined to achieving our goal of economic stability and self-reliance.
Fellow Ghanaians, I am optimistic that all these fiscal measures, together with the debt operations and the implementation of key structural reforms to eliminate the structural bottlenecks in the economy outlined in the 2023 Budget, will go a long way to address the economic challenges. I call on all Ghanaians, in these difficult times, to support these fiscal measures that the Government has proposed for approval by Parliament, to enable us achieve the goal of restoring macroeconomic stability and promoting inclusive growth, whilst protecting the poor.
He also acknowledged that the economy is in a serious crisis, and requires collective national effort to be able to address the issue at hand.
Our economy suffers from another structural weakness, which we must address with urgency. Ghana has the second largest economy in West Africa, but with the lowest tax-to-GDP ratio of some twelve percent (12%), within the context of an average of eighteen percent (18%) in the ECOWAS Region. It is absolutely essential for our future, if we are to realise our goal of a Ghana Beyond Aid, that we make rapid strides to meet the eighteen percent (18%) and even higher target, in order to strengthen our self-reliance and our capacity to finance our own development. It should be obvious to all of us by now that we can only rely on ourselves to build the Ghana we want.
The theme for this year’s Farmer’s Day celebration was ‘Accelerating Agricultural Development Through Value Addition’. The theme was chosen to promote the addition of value to agricultural products through food processing and to promote products from the agric sector.
A total of 15 awards were given at the celebrations, with Mr. Nana Yaw Sarpong Siriboe emerging as Overall National Best Farmer and Mr. Alex Cudjoe emerging as Overall National Best Fisher, both of whom received special congratulations from the President.
