President John Dramani Mahama says the government’s $10 billion New Economy Programme is aimed at transforming Ghana’s economic structure by boosting local production, processing and exports over the next four years.
He said the programme seeks to build an economy that produces more of what it consumes, processes more of what it grows and earns more foreign exchange from exports.
Speaking on the initiative, President Mahama explained that strengthening local agriculture and manufacturing would create jobs while reducing Ghana’s dependence on imported goods.
“When Ghanaian farms supply our markets and Ghanaian factories turn our resources into finished products, we create jobs locally and reduce the need to spend scarce foreign exchange on goods that we can produce competitively ourselves,” he said.
The President linked the programme to efforts to strengthen the Ghana cedi, arguing that increased exports would bring more foreign exchange into the country, while greater domestic production would reduce demand for imports.
He said these measures, combined with disciplined public financial management and credible monetary policies, would help create the conditions for a stronger and more stable currency.
“Together with disciplined public finance and credible monetary policies, these measures will help create the conditions for a stronger, more stable cedi, better able to withstand any global shocks,” he added.
The four-year programme is expected to focus on transforming the productive capacity of the Ghanaian economy, with emphasis on agriculture, manufacturing and export growth.
