Mr. Kojo Yankah, Ashanti Regional Minister has attributed the drop in the rate of inflation to 10 per cent to growth in investment and savings in the country.

Mr. Yankah said this at a day's seminar, organized by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) to introduce the Network Financial Service (NFS), a Ghanaian / United States registered Company.

He said the Ashanti Region, which has a long tradition of entrepreneurial flair and abounds in natural resources has played a remarkable role in the economic transformation of the country.

However, most of the companies in the region are operating below capacity because they cannot raise the necessary funds from local sources. The Regional Minister said these companies do not also have the capability to access funds from the international market to make their businesses grow because of high interest rates.

He asked the business community to take advantage of the attractive terms of the loans being offered to expand. The NFS, a limited liability company, operates through an Exclusive Master Agency Agreement with the First International Bank (FIB), a commercial lending institute in Hartford, Connecticut and is supported by the United States Export and Import Bank (Exim).

The NFS' clients include a wide range of medium-sized private sector and public companies that have been operating profitable businesses for over three years and can produce financial statements of their activities.