President John Mahama says the government is focused on reducing the wage bill to 40 percent by the end of 2017 and will, therefore, use all workable measures to ensure its reduction.
He said wage overruns, unsustainable subsidies on petroleum products and power crisis placed huge economic challenges on the economy and once the government was facing them head-on with the necessary interventions, the wage bill would subsequently reduce to 40 per cent of revenue generated.
“In that way, we will be edging towards the standards of International Labour Organisation which allows only 35 per cent as wage bills,” he said.
President Mahama, who was addressing the 12th Chief Executive Officers’ of Businesses Breakfast Meeting in Accra on Monday, said the government had fast-tracked the provision of 850 megawatts of power within 18 months, and placed austerity tariffs on electricity to ensure sustainability and reduction on government expenditure.
The breakfast meeting, organised by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, served as an avenue for the business community and government to interact and discuss pertinent issues relating to the private sector.
It is also an opportunity for the President and the Government for that matter to acquire first-hand information on trends in the business sector and to dialogue for workable and sustainable measures.
President Mahama said over the years, the government had worked around the clock to reduce the wage bill that was astronomically raised by the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure.
He said the government had reduced it from over 70 percent in 2010 to between 49 and 51 percent by 2015 and expressed the hope that it would further reduce to 40 per cent by the close of 2017.
On subsidies on petroleum products, President Mahama said since government embarked on the deregulation exercise prices had remained relatively stable and relieved government of wanton debts it had accrued over the years on account of the subsidies.
He said the government would also work hard to reduce the high rate of power losses in the system to sustain the performance of the Electricity Company of Ghana in the provision of power.
The current 25 percent loss the ECG was experiencing through illegal connections and non-payment of bills, he said, was unacceptable and the government would, therefore, liaise with viable partners for the ECG to reverse the trend.
Even with the losses and inadequacies, President Mahama explained that over 80 per cent of Ghanaians were enjoying sustainable electricity and Ghana placed second to only South Africa in that respect, and gave the assurance that with the current expansion programmes Ghana could attain 100 percent in the next four years.
President Mahama said the provision of potable water to Ghanaians had risen from 58 percent in 2008 to 72 percent this year and hoped that the completion of the second phase of the Kpong Water Project would further increase water supply to more people.
On interest rates and other measures for the flourishing of businesses, President Mahama said the government had introduced Public Debt Management Strategy that would ensure its borrowings did not crowd out the private sector businesses.
This, he said, would be done through improved lending to the Small and Medium Enterprises, using the Ghana Export and Import Bank to support businesses and create import substitution, which had begun with the Pharmaceutical and Poultry companies.
The President said although the government did not control interest rates from financial institutions, it would ensure the stability of prices to compel them to periodically reduce their interest rates.
On the forthcoming December Polls, President Mahama said he would play his role diligently as the President of the land to ensure a smooth and peaceful general election.
Mr Carl Nelson, the Chief Operations Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, said his outfit had successfully organised similar meetings and would continue to do that in the coming days to deepen relations between government and businesses on one side and between businesses on the other.
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