The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GNCCI) is worried over the rising debt, the cost of doing business and the recent downgrade of the country’s economy by some rating agencies.

According to the Chamber, this is the time government must focus in supporting local industries to add value to their products and export.

It also wants the government to deepen its local content policies for indigenous businesses.

Speaking at a capacity-building workshop for some 1,000 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), President of the Chamber, Clement Osei Amoako, however said the coming in of the International Monetary Fund will give some temporal relief to the business community.

“Before I conclude, I wish to express the Chamber’s concerns on the state of affairs of the Ghanaian economy. The rapid depreciation of the cedi against major foreign currencies, high cost of fuel, high inflation, and high policy rate is heightening the cost of doing business in the country.”

“More so, rising public debt, poor domestic revenue performance, balance of payment problems, high government expenditure, and lack of fiscal discipline resulting in credit rating downgrade and loss of external financing is worsening the country’s economic outlook”, he explained.

Furthermore he said “the decision to seek a balance of payment support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provides temporal relief in addressing the external shocks facing the Ghanaian economy. We urge the government to provide more support to value addition, local content optimisation, export development, trading of domestic products and services, and efficient competition laws which are sustainable tools needed to manage the exchange rate and inflation stability and achieve macroeconomic prudence.”

The Chamber further urged government to operationalize the tax exemption bill, property tax bill, among others to boost domestic revenue mobilisation” he charged.

The business skills development programme for SMEs is an initiative by the Chamber and Development Bank Ghana under the theme, empowering SMEs with the requisite business skills for Sustainable growth and resilience.

The programme aims to develop and reinforce the business skills of Ghana’s private sector to improve their commercial operations and enable them to remain competitive.

The programme adopts a proactive approach that considers the unique needs of small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, and draws on GNCCI’s engagement with the local and international business community.