Kufuor gives high marks for management of economy

Accra, Jan. 8, GNA - The nation has registered very impressive achievements during the past six years in the management of its macro-economy, President John Agyekum Kufuor said on Thursday.

In his State of the Nation address delivered to Parliament in Accra, he said government's policies had transformed the macro-economy from years of stagnation to the current growth rate of 6.2 per cent. Inflation had come down from 40.5 per cent in 2000 to 10.2 per cent today, lending rates of commercial banks had also slumped from over 50 per cent to 20 per and were still falling, the cedi had stabilized and maintained its value against major currencies, thus encouraging the Central Bank to initiate a process of re-denomination.

"Mr Speaker, this outstanding performance of the macro-economy is boosting the confidence of both domestic and foreign investors, which is already on the upsurge.

"Ghanaians no longer feel the need to transfer their money abroad or change it into foreign currency to preserve its value. "Further, all over the country, there is evidence of vigorous construction works which must be taken as a sign of a growing economy." President Kufuor noted that another manifestation of confidence was in increased remittances from Ghanaians living abroad, which totalled over four billion dollars last year.

He said four new banks - Guaranty Trust, Fidelity, Zenith and Intercontinental - had been established within the past two years. In mining, President Kufuor said he had commissioned the operation of Newmont Gold mine at Kenyasi in Brong Ahafo and it had already poured its first gold.

He said Barry Callebaut Ghana had also installed a new multi-million dollar processing line to produce its product range while Cargill International, a global agro-processing company, had started the construction of a new cocoa processing plant at Tema, which involved over 50 million dollars in new investments.

President Kufuor said Golden Exotic Company, a local subsidiary of the multinational French company, Compagnie Fruitiere, which started operations in 2003 projected to export 17,000 tonnes of pineapples this year from 3,600 in 2005.

He said government would continue to direct various polices and measures to identify companies in the informal sector to assist them raise their production level and create more jobs using micro as well as small and medium credit lines.

The President noted that this would not only improve their businesses, but also help widen the tax net.

President Kufuor said agriculture remained the mainstay of the national economy and government's policy was to enhance productivity of the sector through application of science and technology and best practices.

These include provision of irrigation facilities, improved planting materials, effective extension services and various forms of credit. President Kufuor said Ghana Cocoa Board produced some 740,000 tonnes of cocoa in the 2005/06 season and had targeted the one million-tonne mark within three years without compromising Ghana's acclaimed quality bean.

He said the policy of applying science and technology together with best practices was being applied to the cultivation of legumes, cereals, vegetables, staples like yam and horticultural produce like mangoes, pineapples and pawpaw.

President Kufuor noted that one of the highlights of last year was the signing of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) in Washington between Ghana and the US under which Ghana is to benefit from 547 million dollars to modernize her agriculture and transform the rural economy.

"Mr Speaker, in this one huge project we are afforded the model of what our agriculture should be. The vision is that the success will spill over and be replicated throughout the country." President Kufuor commended the House for working with dispatch on the approval of the MCA bill and called on the whole country to show interest in the programme which was expected to generate allied businesses like storage and warehousing, sales and marketing, transportation and processing and thereby create more than two million jobs.