[Ghana] Finance minister told ‘honest truth’ about full payroll

A prominent business leader and economist has defended the controversial advice Ghana’s Finance Minister’s gave graduates when he told them the payroll was full and they should find innovative ways of becoming entrepreneurs, Modern Ghana reports.

Speaking on news show the Big Issue, Mr Joe Jackson - director of strategy and business operations at Dalex Finance - said this was a point he had made in the past.

“I can not fault the Finance Minister for saying something I said pre-COVID and Post-COVID… all he did was deviate from the standard politician platitudes to speak the honest truth.”

The Finance Minister, Mr Ofori-Atta, has faced stiff criticism for his comments after he said graduates could not rely on the government for jobs.

Speaking at an October 18 graduation ceremony at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Mr Ofori-Atta explained that the payroll was full because 60 per cent of Ghana’s revenue was spent on the payment of salaries of public sector workers.

In his interview, Mr Jackson agreed that this was unsustainable.

“Where in the world does this happen? You need a job but does it have to come from the government,” he asked.

Mr Jackson also said that “the government is broke and has been broke for a long time” and therefore it cannot be expected to pay more salaries.

Mr Jackson did, however, note that the government needed to play its part in addressing unemployment by creating conditions that were more conducive for business.

“Even as the Minister of Finance was talking about entrepreneurship, are the conditions right?… That is the issue you should take with him; do we have an enabling environment?”

Source: Modern Ghana

(Quotes via original reporting)

A prominent business leader and economist has defended the controversial advice Ghana’s Finance Minister’s gave graduates when he told them the payroll was full and they should find innovative ways of becoming entrepreneurs, Modern Ghana reports.

Speaking on news show the Big Issue, Mr Joe Jackson - director of strategy and business operations at Dalex Finance - said this was a point he had made in the past.

“I can not fault the Finance Minister for saying something I said pre-COVID and Post-COVID… all he did was deviate from the standard politician platitudes to speak the honest truth.”

The Finance Minister, Mr Ofori-Atta, has faced stiff criticism for his comments after he said graduates could not rely on the government for jobs.

Speaking at an October 18 graduation ceremony at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Mr Ofori-Atta explained that the payroll was full because 60 per cent of Ghana’s revenue was spent on the payment of salaries of public sector workers.

In his interview, Mr Jackson agreed that this was unsustainable.

“Where in the world does this happen? You need a job but does it have to come from the government,” he asked.

Mr Jackson also said that “the government is broke and has been broke for a long time” and therefore it cannot be expected to pay more salaries.

Mr Jackson did, however, note that the government needed to play its part in addressing unemployment by creating conditions that were more conducive for business.

“Even as the Minister of Finance was talking about entrepreneurship, are the conditions right?… That is the issue you should take with him; do we have an enabling environment?”

Source: Modern Ghana

(Quotes via original reporting)