President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said his administration would pursue a legislative rule that would not allow government to generate a fiscal deficit in excess of five per cent in any given year.

Speaking at the Seventh Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) Ghana Industry Awards in Accra, he said his government was determined to continuing down the road of fiscal discipline that had seen a marked improvement and strengthening of the country’s macro-economy in the last two years.

“The days of high public debts, high fiscal deficits, high interest rates, rapidly depreciating currency, and erratic power supply will not be a feature of my government,” President Akufo-Addo said.

“Indeed, we will, in this meeting of Parliament, legislate a fiscal rule that will outlaw any attempt by Government to generate a fiscal deficit in excess of five per cent in any given year.”

“I intend also to establish, shortly, a Presidential Fiscal Advisory Council, composed of reputable economists, which will monitor the performance of fiscal management policy, and advice the President on appropriate measures to be taken to ensure fiscal discipline.”

The President noted that even though the latest World Bank Index of Doing Business had seen a significant improvement in Ghana’s position, there was still a lot more to be done to meet the goal of Ghana disposing of the most business friendly environment in Africa, and globally.

“The AGI and Government should work hand-in-hand to improve the business environment, and achieve this goal. I would also urge our domestic businesses and industries to aspire towards meeting quality standards for their products and services in order to be able to integrate easily into global markets,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo called on all private sector players to demonstrate their commitment to contributing their quota to the transformation of the Ghanaian economy.

“Creating wealth and prosperity for the majority of our people is a shared responsibility. My government is a listening one, and I encourage stakeholders to utilise the public-private dialogue platforms soon to be institutionalized by Government, to address issues of mutual concern in achieving the economic and industrial transformation of our country,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo disclosed that the three vehicle assembly plants, for which Memorandums of Understanding have been signed between Government and three global car giants, would become operational in 2019.

He told the gathering of business men and captains of industry that “we anticipate, also, that the assembly plants to be established by the three global car manufacturing giants, Volkswagen, Nissan and Sinotruk, will become operational in 2019.”

Ahead of that, the President stressed that “a comprehensive automotive industry policy will be launched to provide clear and consistent guidelines for the sector.”