<<Print>>

As the saying goes in Ghana that �it is the necessity that compels a butcher to kill a cat�. The recent further decline of Ghana Currency (cedi) has compelled the governor of Bank of Ghana to see the need to acknowledge the industrialization and modernization policy articulated by the flag-bearer Nana Akufo Addo to transform Ghana in 10 years. According to the Business & Financial Time report yesterday, it quoted the Governor of Bank of Ghana Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur to have synchronized with Nana Akufo Addo�s when he said �there is a need to control the rising demand for consumption imports, which last year cost US$3billion in foreign exchange and contributed to a widening of the trade deficit by 8% in Ghana�. Mr Amissah said; �We�re beginning to see an increasingly import-dependent economy. If the goods are meant for manufacturing, which will fuel future growth, then that is good; but we need to curb our demand for consumption imports,� he told a media conference in February. �If the depreciation persists, with the effect that it will have on prices of imports, we�re likely to see an increase in the policy rate.� The report further stated that the Bank of Ghana could be compelled to raise the interest rates for the second time this year if the cedi continues to fall under increased demand for foreign exchange by the corporate sector and importers, analysts told the Business & Financial Times. �The Central Bank�s monetary-policy committee (MPC) is due to meet this month to review the impact of a decision to tighten policy in February, and determine if further action is needed to support the cedi and curb inflationary pressure. As can be recalled, the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party Nana Akufo- Addo stated that in March 2011 that his party (NPP) is preparing a comprehensive programme of industrialization and modernization that can transform Ghana�s economy in a matter of one decade. Nana Addo said what Ghana needs is a structural transformation of her economy. �We cannot improve the lives of the mass of our people if we remain a raw material producing nation.� The NPP leader argued that �Ghana has what it takes to position ourselves as the Taiwan or Brazil of the West African region of more than a quarter of a billion people. That is the way to go.� He said Ghana and other West African countries are now importing an ever -increasing percentage of their food products from Brazil. Nana Addo believes �with the right programme in place, in the next ten years, Ghana can become a self-sustainable, confident economy, in many ways, with an extensive, modern agricultural industry that will feed our neighbours and beyond.� Thank God, it has taken governor of BoG ,Mr Amissah Arthur all this while to appreciate this brilliant policy. Many analysts elucidated that it was unfortunate for some government ministers with little minds to describe the policy as �A copy-cat approach� when Nana Addo outdoored his development blue-print modelled along the Brazilian and Taiwanese experience of aggressive industrialization. Nana Yaw Sarpong Peter Antwi Boasiako NPP UK Communication