The Group Chief Executive of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) Ade Ayeyemi has stated that the high interest rates in the country are just a symptom of the real challenges in the economy.<\/p>\n
Currently, Ghana\u2019s interest rate which is over 25percent is among the highest on the continent.<\/p>\n
This has affected access to funds to businesses, forcing them to borrow at high costs to expand their operations.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Ghana Stock Exchange during the bank\u2019s \u2018Facts Behind the Figures\u2019 session, Mr. Ayeyemi warned that fighting interest rate hikes to bring it to an appreciable level to stimulate growth requires fixing some of the fundamentals such as inflation since prices cannot be legislated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am an economist. Interest rate is always a function of the underlying economy. You do not want an interest rate that is negative, so you need to link your interests rates to inflation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to him, the economic fundamentals, which include how the markets fix and react to pricing always have a bearing on economic indicators such as interest rates, inflation, and exchange rates.<\/p>\n
He maintained that Ghana can get its interest at a favorable level \u00a0by getting the rates at which prices of goods and services are increasing\u00a0 to a level that will stimulate growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to try as much as possible as a country to bring down the inflation of the country, if you bring down inflation, the interest rates will come right down with it,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that many West African countries experience high interest rates due to the desire of some governments to force an interest rate regime on the markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you specify where the\u00a0 interest rates should be and you don\u2019t bring down the fundamentals, what\u2019s gonna happen is gonna be a distortion, and when there is a distortion the economy cannot come out of it,\u201d he cautioned.<\/p>\n
He appealed to governments in the West African region to rather focus on improving the wellbeing of its citizens through favorable prices of goods and services that are affordable.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
By: Lawrence Segbefia\/citibusinessnews.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Group Chief Executive of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) Ade Ayeyemi has stated that the high interest rates in the country are just a symptom of the real challenges in the economy. Currently, Ghana\u2019s interest rate which is over 25percent is among the highest on the continent. This has affected access to funds to businesses, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":221278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[121,32,171],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n