Accra, Dec. 1, GNA - The business community have been urged to improve on corporate governance standards in order to build the necessary trust and confidence in the banks to meet their financial requirements.

This is necessary because it is the only way through which the business community could benefit from fair interest rates. Mr Ebenezer Essoka, Chief Executive Officer, Central and West Africa Regions of Standard Chartered Bank Ghana, said it was important for companies to validate their financial viability through improved governance procedures to enable the banks to provide the required services.

He said when this was not done the business operators would lose the opportunities that were provided by government in the 2007 budget to improve and enhance the performance of the private sector.

Mr Essoka, who was speaking at a forum organized by the Ghanaian-German Economic Association on the Private Sector Initiatives in the 2007 Budget, said although the budget presented numerous opportunities, they could only be exploited if the businessmen were able to position themselves well to take advantage of them. He said significant increase in government expenditure in designated areas of Agriculture, Industry, Services and Energy and tax reliefs and incentives provide opportunity for enhanced business. He urged the businessmen to focus on areas that they had specialization in and advised them to use consultants where necessary in dealing with grey areas.

Mr. Essoka, however, expressed worry about the continuous reliance of the economy on donor funding for budgetary support, saying it introduced the risk of possible fiscal slippage.