Accra, Jan 6, GNA - The Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) might not have resolved all the country's economic woes, but it had definitely given a respite, Professor Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, Vice Chancellor, University of Ghana, Legon said on Tuesday.

The initiative, he said, if utilized judiciously could improve the fortunes of the country and put it on sustained development path. Professor Asenso-Okyere was speaking at a three-day workshop the Norwegian Council for Higher Education's Programme for Development Research and Education (NUFU) is organising to discuss poverty, health and gender issues in the country.

He said key indicators such as a per capita income of less than 400 dollars, a foreign debt of over six billion dollars and a domestic debt of more than eight trillion cedis in 2001 as well as high level of deprivation and low life expectancy, showed that Ghana was highly indebted.

Prof. Asenso-Okyere said if the country had continued to service its foreign debt with the meagre export earnings, it would have eventually resulted in serious economic crisis

He said the Ghana Living Standard Survey had revealed that about 40 per cent of the population lived below the poverty line out of which about 27 per cent could be described as being acutely poor and not even able to meet their nutrition requirements.

Professor Gyan Baffour, Director General, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), said the Government prioritised the implementation of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) estimated at 284 million dollars due to resource constraints over a three-year period.

He said the essence of the decision was to ensure maximum impact by not spreading the available resource thinly over all the projects in the GPRS.

"The priority areas involve the provision of infrastructure, rural development through modernization of agriculture, enhance social services, good governance and private sector development at the cost of over two million dollars."

On infrastructure development, Professor Baffour said the focus was on the construction of three major highways; Accra - Yamoransa, Accra-Aflao and Accra-Kumasi to open up the country and link it with the Trans-ECOWAS highways.

The Government intends to develop the country to become an agro-industrial economy by the year 2010.

He said the Government was also placing renewed emphasis on developing basic education, support early childhood development and alternative education for children out of school.

Prof. Baffour said that to ensure equity in the provision health care, outreach services and clinics in deprived rural and peri-urban areas were being rehabilitated and model health centres developed for every district in the country.

He said structures were being put in place to strengthen the rule of law, respect for human rights and the attainment of social justice and equity.

The Government, he said, was taking prudent steps to strengthen the private sector to ensure that it was capable of acting effectively as an engine of wealth creation.