News Guide Africa

Tag: No jobs

  • Job creation a priority of gov’t… despite austere measures to reform economy

     

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

     

    The government has affirmed that it will not relent on its effort to ensure a prevailing environment to promote job creations.

     

     

    As the Ghanaian economy is hooked to an economic reform programme powered by the International Monetary Fund, many fears that job of some existing workers are not secured as well as new job opportunities.

     

    But, updating Ghanaians on the economy at a news briefing, the Finance Minister promised that government is committed to creating new jobs through promotion of entrepreneurship among the youth.

     

    “Government is very intentional in ensuring that growth and job creation are not sacrificed in the process of restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability”, Ken Ofori-Atta has said.

     

    Also, he said the government intends to promote entrepreneurship through initiatives such as the YouStart programme “to create more jobs for the banking sector and faith-based organisations”.

     

    Apparently, in its latest economic review update, the Bank of Ghana indicated that, availability of jobs in the country as advertised in selected print and online media which partially gauges labour demand in the economy, have dropped marginally in April 2023 relative to what was observed in the same period in 2022.

     

    In total, 2,581 job adverts were recorded, as compared with 2,777 for the same period in 2022, indicating a year on year decline of 7.1 percent.

     

    On a month-on-month basis, the number of job vacancies went down by 6.3 percent from the 2,754 jobs advertised in March 2023.

     

    Cumulatively, for the first four months of 2023, the total number of advertised jobs declined by 2.9 percent to 10,707 from 11,029 recorded during the same period in 2022.

     

    Also, according to the Central bank’s data,

    consumer spending, proxied by domestic VAT collections and retail sales, posted a strong positive performance in March 2023, compared with the corresponding period in 2022.

     

    The domestic VAT collections increased by 92.4 percent on a year-on-year basis to GH¢1,250.68 million, from GH¢649.93 million. Cumulatively, total domestic VAT for the first quarter of 2023 went up by 76.8 percent to GH¢3,196.30 million compared to GH¢1,808.04 million for the corresponding period of last year.

     

    However, retail sales increased by 44.9 percent year-on-year to GH¢165.20 million in March 2023, up from the GH¢114.05 million recorded in the same period in 2022. On a month-on-month basis, retail sales improved by 19.2 percent in March 2023 from GH¢138.60 million in the preceding month. In cumulative terms, retail sales for the first quarter of 2023 went up by 30.3 percent.

     

    Consequently, the government believes that the economic reforms put in place under the IMF-supported program will yield a desirable impact on the economy.

     

    “Our commitment to these reforms is matched by our relentless pursuit of innovation and strengthened partnerships”, the finance minister noted. “Backed by the renewed drive for reforms, the government is working towards securing significant support from our multilateral partners”.

     

    “Altogether, and including the IMF funds, World Bank and AfDB support, we expect multilateral support of about US$2.0 billion for 2023 and US$6.2 billion between 2023 and 2026”, he explained.

     

    Although, he warned that the US$3-billion-three-year IMF programme secured by Ghana is not the end to the country’s economic woes.

     

    Rather, he said it marks the beginning for taking tough decisions to reset the economy on track.

     

    Mr Ofori-Atta said: “We have an ambitious agenda reform”, but caveated: “Let me state clearly that securing an IMF programme is not an end to our current challenges though it has significantly paved the way for the implementation of an ambitious and well-thought-out programme of reform for our economy and country”.

     

    “In fact”, he noted, “the real work of adjustment, realignment, and the path to steady economic growth has just begun”.

     

    “Let us brace ourselves for the needed reform, especially in expenditure control, non-arrears accumulation, revenue growth, ECG revenue collection, and energy sector reforms in order to rebuild the walls of the republic with urgency”, Mr Ofori-Atta said.

     

    He explained that the Post Covid-19 for Economic Growth reform programme now supported by a three-year extended credit facility with the IMF, “is built on clear targets and strong policy and structural measures”.

     

    “Over the medium term, the economic growth-backed IMF programme seeks to promote a credible fiscal consolidation programme anchored by strong domestic revenue mobilisation and high spending efficiency”, indicated Mr Ofori-Atta.

     

    Ghana has already received the first tranche of $600 million on 19 May 2023 right after the Fund’s executive board approved the deal.

     

     

     

  • Job scarcity on the rise

    Job scarcity on the rise

    By Elorm Desewu

    Job vacancies in the country have dropped by almost 40 percent for the first eight months of 2022, according to a report from the Bank of Ghana.

    The number of jobs advertised in selected print and online media, which partially gauges labour demand in the economy, decreased in August 2022 relative to what was observed in the corresponding period a year ago.

    In total, 2,467 job adverts were recorded as compared with 4,051 for the same period in 2021, indicating a decline of 39.1 percent year-on-year.

    On a month-on-month basis, the number of job vacancies in August 2022 increased by 13.6 percent from the 2,172 jobs advertised in July 2022. Cumulatively, for the first eight months of 2022, the total number of advertised jobs declined by 12.4 percent to 20,929 from 23,892 recorded during the same period in 2021.

    The Bank’s updated Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) recorded an annual growth of 0.5 percent in July 2022, compared with growth of 20.0 percent and 3.9 percent in the corresponding periods of 2021 and 2020 respectively.

    The total number of private sector-SSNIT contributors, which partially gauges employment conditions, marginally declined to 873,406 in July 2022 compared with 873,612 for the same period in 2021. On a month-on-month basis, total number of private sector-SSNIT contributors decreased by 4.6 percent from the 915,516 individuals recorded in June 2022.

    Cumulatively, for the first seven months of 2022, the total number of private sector contributors increased by 9.1 percent to 6,522,383 from 5,981,073 recorded over the corresponding period in 2021.

    Consumer spending, proxied by domestic VAT collections and retail sales, posted a positive performance in July 2022, compared with the corresponding period in 2021. Domestic VAT collections increased by 30.6 percent on a year-on-year basis to GH¢754.64 million.

    Cumulatively, total domestic VAT for the first seven months of 2022 went up by 18.3 percent to GH¢4,584.75 million, compared with GH¢3,874.18 million for the corresponding period of last year. Retail sales increased by 4.3 percent (year-on-year) to GH¢115.74 million in July 2022, up from the GH¢111.02 million recorded in the same period in 2021.

    On a month-on-month basis, retail sales went up by 7.0 percent in July 2022 from GH¢108.21 million in the preceding month. In cumulative terms, retail sales for the first seven months of 2022 increased by 4.1 percent.

    Activities in the manufacturing sub-sector, gauged by trends in the collection of direct taxes and private sector workers’ contributions to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Pension Scheme, improved in July 2022.

    Total Direct Taxes increased by 37.7 percent (year-on-year) to GH¢2,146.92 million in July 2022, relative to GH¢1,558.78 million recorded in the same period in 2021. Cumulatively, total Direct Taxes collected during the first seven months of 2022 went up by 23.8 percent to GH¢16,971.67 million, from GH¢13,709.29 million for the same period in 2021. In terms of contributions of the various sub-tax categories, Income tax (PAYE and self-employed) accounted for 48.0 percent, Corporate tax accounted for 40.5 percent, while “Other Tax Sources” contributed 11.5 percent.

    Total private sector workers’ contribution to the SSNIT Pension Scheme increased by 15.1 percent in yearon-year terms to GH¢272.93 million in July 2022, compared with GH¢237.13 million a year earlier. Cumulatively, for the first seven months of 2022, the contribution went up by 23.5 percent to GH¢1,801.81 million, relative to GH¢1,458.65 million recorded in the same period in 2021.