Ghana’s Finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has told the country’s parliament that the government would be focusing on job creation in 2018 during his budget statement presentation.
“We promised to pursue policies that will create jobs in the economy and we are delivering. This budget, by the grace of God, will deliver massively on jobs!” Mr. Ofori-Atta said on Wednesday.
Unemployment is a major problem in Ghana with many youth without jobs and with the government struggling to fix the problem.
There have been policy initiations to encouragement entrepreneurship and also encourage the private sector to grow and create jobs.
The government has announced a tax holiday for Ghanaian entrepreneurs who are 35 years and below to encourage the young people to start their own businesses while “creating a supportive ecosystem for young Ghanaian entrepreneurs.”
“As a further commitment to creating a supportive ecosystem for young Ghanaian entrepreneurs of age 35 years and below who start their own businesses, government will, through the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP), grant tax holidays based on the number of persons employed by a start-up or early-stage business,” the Finance Minister said.
The budget statement also highlighted the government plans to reduce electricity tariffs and increase revenue collection.
Ghana’s government also expects the economy to grow by 7.9 pct by the end of this year 2017 from an initial forecast of 6.3 pct.
Source: Africafeeds.com
