Cost Of Credit Hampering Growth Of Export Sector At The Ports - GPHA Boss

Chief Executive of the Ghana Ports and Harbors Authority has attributed the slow growth of the country's export sector to the inability of exporters to access credit facilities at cheaper rates.

According to Paul Ansah, the increasing traffic at the ports is mainly in import and international transit trade.

Paul Ansah made the disclosure in an interview with Joybusiness after a panel discussion at the just ended Ghana CEOs Summit in Accra.

The situation he noted, calls for worry because, the imbalances in the trade could have negative effects on the country's macro economic growth.

"There has been a significant growth due to the introduction of the paperless program and other service integrations at the port but the challenge is that, most of the trade is in import. The little domestic export received is nothing to write home about because, sometimes many of the containers are empty," he explained.

Mr. Ansah blamed the situation on high cost of credit.

Trade at the port saw revenue increase for the year for more than 50 per cent, according to the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority.

Container traffic recorded a growth of 11.7 per cent while domestic traffic grew by 10 per cent.

The GPHA Boss says Ghana's port is going have a facelift which will see it become one of the best ports in the sub region.

Addressing the CEOs, Chief Executive of the Executive Officers of Network Ghana, Ernest Egyir, said that the purpose of the summit is to bring all directors together in an atmosphere of learning, insight sharing and above all unearthing the most viable ways of making the economy work in the face of global trends.

"We seek through this platform to initiate and enhance existing transformation that will grow the economy," he noted.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Ebenezer Sabutey