In anticipation of the 2023 budget statement, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are looking for additional government assistance to enter formal markets and expand their businesses so they may reach their full potential.

The business community and MSMEs are also looking to the government to encourage their growth and coordinate policies that will help them integrate into the value chains of large corporations operating in Ghana and on other African markets.

These are some of the findings from KPMG Ghana's auditing and accounting firm's 2023 pre-budget survey.

The government during the COVID-19 pandemic, supported MSMEs through various institutions with access to finance, training and technical support to revive the sector and position them for growth.

The business community is requesting Government to maintain the initiatives already in place and introduce further measures that will mainstream MSMEs into the value chains of large scale companies and markets in Ghana and across the world.

According to the survey published by myjoyonline.com yesterday, the respondents’ believed that if MSMEs received more support in the area of access to market, it would boost growth and scale up to benefit from the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to promote sustainable job creation.

“A targeted government support in terms of providing access to finance and integration into value chains and markets is very critical.The survey reflects the general sentiment of the business community on the economy and provides a platform for government to get access to some recommendations from industry players,” the report stated.

In October 2022, KPMG surveyed about 100 leading businesses in Ghana and obtained responses from 70 of them.

The questions for the survey were designed to measure their perceptions of the business environment and the fiscal regimes as they impact their operations.

The report comes at a time when the economy is facing macro-economic challenges such as rising inflation, interest rate and severe pressure on the Ghanaian cedi against the major trading currencies.

Businesses, households and individuals are eagerly anticipating the direction of government’s policy in bringing some respite amid an ongoing discussion with the IMF.