I�m Not Surprised At The Free Fall Of The Cedi � KEEA MP

Hon. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur, the Member of Parliament for Komenda-Edina-Aguafo-Ebrim (KEEA) Constituency in the Central Region has bemoaned the state of Ghana�s economy, where export promotion seems to have been relegated to the background. According to him, the free fall of the cedi against some major trading currencies in the world is as a result of the fact that nothing is being done to promote Ghanaian made goods. ��I�m not surprised we do not have enough money in this country because the economy is now what we call import driven,� he bemoaned on NEAT 100.9 FM. Hon. Arthur argued that the agricultural sector which has the potential to drive exports and earn the country foreign exchange has not received the needed push in recent times and that accounts for �the nose dive� in the production of cocoa from 1 million metric tones in 2010, to 864, 000 metric tones. He made these comment during a panel discussion on the fast depreciation of the cedi against other trading currencies, which is hurting local businesses. A situation which has slowed down businesses and has sky rocketed the prices of imported commodities. The US dollar, which used to sell on the local market for GHc2.20 during the latter party of 2013, is now at selling GHc2.60, while the British pound, which used to sell at GHc3, is now being sold for GHc4.20. Dr. Nana Ato Arthur believes pragmatic policies and programs directed at reviving agriculture and local business would help steer Ghana�s economy out of the �stormy weather� it finds itself in. The MP for KEEA further warned that if nothing is done to bring back confidence in the economy, �investments and remittances� will reduce and that, in his view, would not be good news to local businesses.