SARPONG'S BLOG

Finance Minister Seth Terkper is confident that Ghana's ailing economy will return to spectacular growth in view of progressive policies and measures adopted by government. He said there was every indication that this will happen sooner than later even though similar projections in the past haven't really materialised. Mr. Terkper just finished an introspective look at the economy and concludes that discipline is non-negotiable if government is to meet the aspirations of its people. "It is either we discipline ourselves or dissipate the opportunities that will arise when the economy shows any gain," the pilot of Ghana's economy said at a gathering in Accra Wednesday. His conclusions came at a presentation of the state of the economy where the minister shared some lessons learnt after Ghana’s promising economic flight was shot down in 2013. Huge budget deficits gutted important macroeconomic gains, Seth Terpker recognized. Once in a ditch, Ghana’s economic rescue ropes …

The prolonged energy situation leading to worsening power cuts in Ghana that has become known as dumsor, has been attributed to the inability of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) to supply gas to the country as a result of an accident caused to its pipelines by pirates operating in West African waters.
That is also said to have put pressure on the local currency, the cedi, because foreign exchange had to be used to import crude to power thermal plants.
Addressing an IMF Programme Stakeholders meeting today May 20, 2015 in Accra, the Minister of Finance, Mr. Seth Terkper said, for two and a half years, the WAGP was unable to supply gas to power the country’s plants for electricity due to that accident. He also indicated that, for the same reason pressure was put on the cedi because foreign exchange had to be used to import crude, leading to the country’s foreign exchange issues and the depreciation of the cedi.
The West African Gas Pipeline Company announced a shut-d…