Takoradi, June 11, GNA - Ms Betty Bosomtwi-Sam, the Deputy Western Regional Minister, said on Thursday that the private sector is the appropriate engine to move the Ghanaian economy forward. "It is for this reason that the government sees the promotion and growth of the financial sector and the empowerment of investors as a means to expand and create new businesses", she said. Ms Bosomtwi-Sam was speaking at the opening of the Takoradi branch of the Home Finance Company (HFC) Bank.

She said the Western Regional Coordinating Council (WRCC) would coordinate, monitor and evaluate the activities of agencies so as to improve the quality of life of the people. Mr Asare Akuffo, the Managing Director of HFC Bank, said savings was a habit that should be acquired and therefore Ghanaians should not use the excuse of low income and lack of appropriate savings product to deny themselves the benefits of savings. He said through savings, Ghana would be capable of pooling massive domestic resources for investment in various economic ventures including infrastructure.

Mr Akuffo said it was disheartening to know that Ghana ranks poorly in savings in West Africa with the rate of about 12 percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) against an average of about 25%. "This situation has to be reversed if we are to accelerate the pace of economic development of the country" he said. 11 June 09