{"id":408332,"date":"2018-03-09T14:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=408332"},"modified":"2018-03-09T15:56:24","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T15:56:24","slug":"high-living-costs-due-low-productivity-import-dependence-economist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/03\/high-living-costs-due-low-productivity-import-dependence-economist\/","title":{"rendered":"High living costs due to low productivity, import dependence – Economist"},"content":{"rendered":"

A senior economics lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Eric Osei-Assibey, has attributed the high cost of living in the country to low levels of productivity and the consistently weak performances of the cedi on the foreign exchange markets due to the nation’s dependence on imports.<\/p>\n

According to him the high prices of goods on the market are reflective of the high costs of production which are the results of the low levels of production as well as the inflated costs of raw materials.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”xCTDrV8bmlGsbAyuxL7YWqTpJoO2SOsC”]\u201cGhana is a high inflation country, largely because our productivity level is very low, which then tends to increase the unit cost of production. So whatever we produce, because the productivity is low, the production cost is high, costs of raw materials are high, so definitely it will eat into our final pricing,\u201d Dr. Osei-Assibey said\u00a0yesterday [Thursday].<\/p>\n

He also noted that the increased preference of Ghanaians for imported raw materials for production and the depreciation of the cedi was driving up the cost of production.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur currency is weak compared to other currencies in neighbouring countries and once you have a weaker currency and you depend so much on imported raw materials, it goes to increase your production cost. Despite the fact that you have low wages due to excess labour, other factors are very high and that pushes up transaction costs and production costs,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dr. Osei-Assibey believes the consistently weak performances of the cedi on the foreign exchange markets due to the nation’s dependence on imports is a factor in the high costs of living<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Silver lining?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite these challenges, the government has been quick to tout its achievements in managing the economy and the gains attained despite the fact that it had inherited an economy in dire straits.<\/p>\n

As evidence of the progress of the economy, President Akufo-Addo,\u00a0delivering the State of the Nation address in February, cited the strong trajectory of the\u00a0Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index in January 2018, which gained 19 percent in dollar terms, according to benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n

The World Bank has also projected that\u00a0Ghana\u2019s economy will probably grow by 8.3 percent this year, which will be the fastest in the world in 2018.<\/p>\n

The President expects these improving macroeconomic indicators to usher Ghana out of the International Monetary Fund programme later this year after his administration extended the 2015 programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good macroeconomic performance in 2017 will strongly support our successful completion of the IMF programme. We are determined to put in place measures to ensure irreversibility and sustained macroeconomic stability so that we will have no reason to seek again the assistance of that powerful global body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Nana Addo hailed Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta as a national asset as he continues to oversee what he says is Ghana’s economic recovery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond the strong economic indicators, President Nana Akufo-Addo said his economic management team had found imaginative ways to deal with the \u201coppressive debt situation\u201d bringing relief to the country and rebuild the \u201cannual average rate of debt accumulation as reduced from a high of 36 percent to 13.6 percent as at September 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of appropriate policy and the normalization of power situation in the country, [we] \u00a0have also engineered a spectacular revival of Ghanaian industry from a growth rate of negative 0.5 percent in 2016, to 17.5 percent in 2017,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

President Akufo-Addo was, however, keen to stress that, the gains made on the economy from did not mean Ghana was out of the woods.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

By: Edwin Kwakofi\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A senior economics lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Eric Osei-Assibey, has attributed the high cost of living in the country to low levels of productivity and the consistently weak performances of the cedi on the foreign exchange markets due to the nation’s dependence on imports. According to him the high prices of goods […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":381255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[32],"tags":[4507,3,16185,5026,17740],"yoast_head":"\nHigh living costs due to low productivity, import dependence - Economist - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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