allAfrica.com: Ghana: Austerity, Discipline Necessary For Economic Recovery Says Kufuor (Page 1 of 3)

In the second part of his interview with allAfrica.com correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, Ghana's president-elect John Agyekum Kufuor promises he will develop efficient, transparent economic management. Contrasting his plans with the practices of the outgoing Rawlings' administration Kufuor says he will pay more than what he calls "lip service" to private sector needs and allow it to grow. Ghanaians, he warns, will have to prepare to tighten their belts.

Q: Mr Kufuor, campaign pledges and campaign promises are probably quite easy to make..... But now that the election is over, as president elect, do you think you can deliver on your promises? And what are the priorities? Ghanaians talk about education, they talk about health and, of course, the economy. What do you think Ghanaians are going to say after the symbolic 100 days, when you haven't been able to deal with all those problems? Do you think that the good will will disappear?

A: Ghanaians are not as simple as the question would assume. I am sure there is nobody that would expect that, within a hundred days, anybody, however good would be able to turn the situation around. So, all the problems of economy, of social services and so on and so forth would be solved. What I would expect the Ghanaians to expect of a new government is the initial policies, the nature of them, and how well thought out and focused on problems, how they stand. And once you begin to take the right steps initially, I would expect the Ghanaian populace to begin to see that you are moving in the right direction, so they would come along with you. That is what I want to within the first hundred days.

Q: Do you foresee a period of austerity for Ghana?

A: Naturally, because where you are talking of stabilizing the currency, for instance, you would necessarily be talking about the public sector disciplining itself, cutting down on borrowing, balancing its budget, bringing down inflation and interest rates and things like that. These are difficult under any circumstances. So, we might experience some austerity. But that s the way to restore health in the body politic, so we would do it.

But, at every stage we would use transparency, we would try to explain things to the people, to carry the people along with us. So, even when there is austerity, because they have been shown the way out of the bind of problems, they would be tolerant and continue to support us.

Q: Are you warning Ghanaians then to brace themselves, to tighten their belts?

A: Yes, yes, yes! Yes, we'll tell the problems to them and also tell the solutions we are trying to usher in. And, on that basis, when you tell people to brace themselves or tighten belts, they will understand, I m sure.

Q: Will you be counting on the support of the donor community to help Ghana through this period of austerity?

A: Very much so. Because I do not doubt that the donor community always meant well in helping Ghana. Since we are going to be disciplined as a government, we would be taking the right policies which would be there for all to see and to appreciate, I would expect the genuine friends of Ghana to give us the support and encouragement.

Q: Does that mean the donors giving money?

A: It must be part of it. Not just money, technical advice and whatever support would come along.

Q: In return for that, you are going to have, perhaps, to take some very tough decisions in the very near future, such as deregulating fuel prices, electricity prices etc.?

A: I believe the deregulation of utilities and petroleum products, I thought according to the incumbent government, was already in place. But the current government has been so opaque, so unforthcoming in the matter of fixing of prices of these basics that one doesn't know whether government has done the right things all along. So, we would want to go in and look at the price structures, how government came by them and we would want to know whether the prices do not contain conventions for wasteful companies and institutions like the GNPC (Ghana National Petroleum Corporation) and so forth.

So, we will look at the structures and, if we find there are any cuts we have to do, so as to alleviate some of the hardships of the consumers, we won t hesitate at all to cut them out. But if we should find that everything in there has been put there economically, then we will tell the people that this is a burden the consumer must bear and so it must be.

Q: Are you ready to be tough, are you ready to be unpopular, are you ready for fuel prices to rise, are you ready for Ghanaians to demonstrate against you?

A: I am ready to be efficient, to turn the economic and social tables, which have been to say the least stagnant over so many years, around, positively so as to get the economy and society moving progressively into advancement. I am ready to do this and, if it would mean my being unpopular, it s just unfortunate. I m ready to be very tough, but tough for a purpose, for an objective. I would be focused on getting everything moving in the right direction for Ghana as quickly as possible.

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