COVID-19, EBID President Urges Realistic Review of Economic Projections
In line with the multi-faceted commitment of EBID to tackling the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the President of EBID, Dr. George Agyekum Donkor has urged stakeholders to review their Economic projections especially as Government revenue mobilization will be affected since there will be no introduction to tax due to low economic activities. Dr. was speaking during an interview with Graphic Business Ghana, on Tuesday, 16 June 2020.
This contribution and engagement with the economic impact of COVID-19 comes after the Bank donated the amount of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1.5m) to support the efforts made by ECOWAS Member States to fight the pandemic in West Africa.
During the interview, Dr. Donkor pointed out that the pandemic threatens vast years of marked economic progress by many African countries and had embedded many people into poverty adding that, just like businesses, many other countries in the world have been affected heavily by the pandemic due to the reduction in manufacturing activities and weak demand for goods and services. He continued that Government expenditure would also be affected due to increase in medical expenditures, and that remittances would drop significantly have impact on the economy,
Furthermore, Dr. Donkor said that international trade would be affected due to low export and low import capacity by importing countries, and that border closures would affect the tourism sector. He also observed that the full economic impact of COVI9-19 would dependent on how long it would take to find a vaccine or eradicate the disease. In this regard, he advised that pragmatic measures be put in place by businesses to protect employees and customers since COVID-19 was real.
The President of EBID also drew attention to the new corporate imperatives that are emerging in particular, the pivotal role of the ICT for business continuity and in other domains. According to Dr. Donkor, virtual rather that physical meetings would become widespread as people try to avoid contracting the virus. As a result, the need for office space and number of staff would go down as ICT would be centre placed with virtual replacing physical as the means for engagement activities.
The World Health Organization’s situation report for June 19 2020 monitored by EBID indicates that globally, the number of confirmed cases was eight million three hundred and eighty-five thousand four hundred and forty (8 385 440) out of which Africa accounted for two hundred and one thousand one hundred and seventy-eight cases (201 178).
With Extracts from GBleader’s digest , GRAPHIC BUSINESS
Tuesday, June 16-Monday, June 22, 2020.Ghana
