President John Mahama says sustained macroeconomic stability will underpin an aggressive drive for growth and scale up job creation under his resetting agenda.
He spoke at the May Day celebration in Koforidua on May 1, responding to concerns raised by the Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) over rising unemployment levels.
A total of 32 trade unions participated in this year’s national May Day celebration in Koforidua.
At the celebration, Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress, Joshua Ansah, expressed concern about the alarming rate of unemployment.
He stressed that macroeconomic stability must translate into meaningful employment and the creation of quality jobs.
“I say without fear of contradiction that decent employment and the lack of it remains one of the most significant economic social problems in Ghana and it has the potential to transform into political problems if it remains unchanged. We are almost at crises level, Mr President.
“We need to look beyond the economic statistics and indicators, macroeconomic stability is not an end in itself. The real gain of economic policy is whether it improves the lives of workers and citizens, does it create jobs, does it raise incomes, does it secure the future, does it build sustainable livelihood? He asked.
Responding to the concerns, President Mahama said that with macroeconomic stability largely achieved, the next phase will focus on creating decent jobs and accelerating economic growth.
“Having successfully restored micro economic stability through our resetting agenda, we are now aggressively pursuing growth and job creation. We would not just manage the economy we expanding to create jobs and prosperity for the Ghanaian people.
Our mission is clear, we want to turn stability into opportunity. Under the resetting Ghana agenda, we continue to prioritize creation of decent jobs for our youth and Ghana’s workforce. We are investing in value addition and digital economy. We will ensure that the Ghanaian worker is not just employed but empowered,” President Mahama assured.
This year’s May Day was celebrated on the theme, “Pivoting to Growth, Jobs and Sustainable Livelihoods Beyond Macroeconomic Stability.”
By Yvonne Neequaye
