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Right Reverend Dr. Yaw Frimpong-Manso, Moderator of the General Assembly of Presbyterian Church of Ghana, on Friday urged government to ensure sound macro-economic measures that cushion the country from impact of the global economic crisis. He said effect of the global economic crisis could now be felt in all aspects of Ghana�s economy as evidenced in current export revenue, shortfalls in remittances, slowdown in donor support and capital inflows. �The worst impact is the informal sector, complaining about poor sales on the streets.� Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso, made the call at the third Moderatorial Business Luncheon, organized by the Church in Accra. It was under the theme: �The Global Credit Crunch and Its Effect on the Ghanaian Economy�. The luncheon was instituted by the church in 2007, to provide an annual forum for the business, professional class and other key stakeholders to meet in a more relaxed atmosphere to discuss issues of national concern, network, socialize and forge ahead with new insight and directions for the progress of the church and nation. He said the impact had been felt by the churches due to the negative impact on their traditional support partners themselves. Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso expressed worry that the situation might affect social policies like the School Feeding Programme and National Youth Employment Programme which would be starved of public funding as government attempted to cut down on spending. However, he said, the crisis had its positive sides which included cleaning the economy of excessive debts, enable corporations to clean up their balance sheets and enhance transparency and regulation in the financial sector. Others are forcing consumers to regain control of their spending and decline in stock prices to create long term valuations. Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso observed that even though the crisis would affect the goal of achieving a middle income status by 2015 and have effects on the living standards of the people, government must strategies to cushion the burden and prevent the economy from collapsing. Professor Stephen Adei, Former Rector, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) blamed the harsh impact of the global economic crisis on Ghana�s economy to previous economic systems and policies that failed to recognize the need to put in place insulators. He said failure of previous systems to realize the need to build cash reserves, the poor transitional process, 2008 being an election year and the poor economic standing of the country at the time, were major contributing factors to the current economic hardship. Prof. Adei said the crisis and the nation�s virtual passive response had revealed weak economic and development think tank capacity in the country. �The global recession and the accompanying credit crunch has forced developed countries to realize the importance of strategic government intervention to correct moral hazards of capitalism and the role of policy in counting both cyclical and major economic downturns,� he said. Prof. Adei commended the Church for its active role in development programmes of the country, but urged it to look inwardly for funding its projects rather than relying on their external traditional partners. He said such efforts would make strategic interventions necessary to reduce the cost of doing business and catalyze national growth and achieve long term sustainable development. Prof. Adei commended the Church for its role in providing health, training, infrastructure and other support services to the people. Dr Amoako Tuffuor, Director, Tax Policy, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, said government was embarking on structural reforms that would enhance the economy to withstand externally induced economic shocks. He said short-to-medium-term measures, which included enhancing revenue through improved tax policy and administration, the improvement of cash and expenditure management through the establishment of a Single Treasury Account, as well as improved budget management systems to contain the immediate impact of the global economic recession would be adopted. Dr Amoako Tuffuor said the situation was showing significant improvement in stability and resilience as indicated in the recent Mid-Year Budget Review submitted to Parliament. He said government intended to introduce public sector reforms to contain the fiscal burden of the public sector payroll and further reduce the fiscal risk of state-owned enterprises in the energy sector through a comprehensive financial restructuring of the Volta River Authority, Electricity Company of Ghana and GRIDCO. Dr Amoako Tuffuor said inflation was expected to show significant moderation during the second half of the year as a result of the application of strong fiscal management and an anticipated good food harvests to enhance employment and build adequate social protection consistent with the Global Jobs Compact. He said government had shown its commitment to the reinforcement and enhancement existing social protection systems. Dr Amoako Tuffuor said government had instituted measures including a 50 per cent increase in the Capitation Grant, making the textile industry the anchor of the implementation of the school uniform programme for basic schools in deprived areas and providing financial support for the youth to indulge in the cultivation of food crops such as maize, rice, sorghum and soya beans, to improve living standards. He said government had successfully negotiated wage settlements with the public sector and was working towards the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure by January, 2010. Dr Amoako Tuffuor commended the Presbyterian Church of Ghana for its active role in the country�s development.