Be Careful With Capital Market — Wolfowitz

from Graphic Ghana

World Bank President, Mr Paul Wolfowitz, has urged Ghana to be cautious in borrowing from the capital market.

He said the bank wanted to see that the country was able to manage its debt and that borrowing without care would not help that cause.

Mr Wolfowitz, who was addressing the press after a three-day tour of some World Bank supported projects, said the alternative to raising funds on the free market was for the donor community to scale up aid to Ghana and Africa.

“We will look at the IDA (International Development Assistance) and look at opportunities within those limits,” he said.

The country in 2004 attained a B+ Sovereign rating by both Standard and Poors and the Fitch Ratings, which the country wish to take advantage of to borrow from the external capital market.

It is also floating various kinds of bonds domestically to raise money for infrastructural development.

Mr Wolfowitz, who has been in the country since Friday, has visited some landmark projects, in both the public and private sectors.

These include a free zone cocoa processing factory, Barry Callebaut Ghana, the Ghana Community Network (GCNet), a platform for fast customs clearing at the country’s ports, the Fruit Terminal at the Tema Harbour, for storing fresh horticultural products, busy Internet and the Nima market, to look at how the informal economy operates, as well as the extent of creeping urban poverty.

He also visited some women groups engaged in community-based projects such as mushroom farming and snail rearing, Bomart Farms to inspect the country’s efforts at switching off from the production of smooth cayenne pineapple production to MD2 and the Atiwa Forest.

Mr Wolfowitz said those visits had re-affirmed his conviction that the country could perform well and lead the way for Africa.

“Ghana can do better and I know it will. Ghana can’t afford to be complacent,” he stated, adding that the energy and the initiative by the informal sector was a good sign of hope for the country’s future.

According to him, the country must come out with bold and decisive policies to revamp its infrastructure, particularly the energy sector, as well as the private sector, among others.

Mr Wolfowitz said developing the country’s domestic market would also be a step in the right direction.

Story by Samuel Doe Ablordeppey