Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has advised the youth to venture into entrepreneurship as the government cannot absorb them into the public sector.

Ken Ofori-Atta says that government’s payroll is full.

He says that about 60% of the government’s revenue is already being paid as salaries to some 650,000 public sector workers.

“We have gone through a period where most people look for jobs with the government. That payroll is full because we are spending some 60% of revenue on the remuneration of some 650,000 people, and that is not sustainable,” he disclosed at last Friday’s Springboard-Ghana Cares Youth Dialogue in Accra.

Mr Ofori-Atta mentioned that the government was focused on transforming the country into an entrepreneurial state.

The government, the Minister said, is taking steps to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurs.

Ken Ofori-Atta expressed confidence in the youth, telling them that they had the relevant skills to start their own business.

“You do in you have the skill set to be able to do what you have to do. And our responsibility as a government is to create the environment of macro stability, currency stability and ensuring that you have access to the relevant skills and financing,” he added.

He insists that the government’s agenda to become a hub of entrepreneurs must be pursued without fail.

“The future is not about jobs that are hiring 1,000 or so people, but it is really about you starting something new and hiring a few people because it’s the SME sector that really does it. So let’s recreate Ghana as an entrepreneurial state and not a socialist state.

"The issue of becoming an entrepreneurial state must be pursued without relenting further and have confidence in the government that people have the skill set to have their own future in their hands,” Mr Ofori-Atta added.