Finance Minister Meets Upper East Revenue Agencies.

Bolgatanga, Feb. 24, GNA- Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning at the weekend urged revenue collecting agencies in the regions and districts to play an active role in the implementation

of provisions and targets set in the national budget. He said they could only do that effectively by first of all, acquainting themselves well with the various sections and policy directions contained in the budget

to enable them to discharge with efficiency the roles expected of them. Mr. Baah Wiredu made the call when he met with personnel of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), VAT Service, regional and District Budget Officers and staff of the Regional Economic Planning Unit in Bolgatanga, to discuss the 2007 budget and its implementation.

He tasked Planning and Budget Officers to prepare their District Development Reports covering every community and all the projects being undertaken by the District Assemblies so as to make budget planning at the local level easier and also to avoid duplication of projects. The Finance Minister indicated that the rapid development of any nation depended to a large extent on how successfully it implements its yearly budget.

"Imagine that in the course of constructing a house you decided to put aside the building plan and just continued working. How would the final structure look like," Mr. Baah-Wiredu queried. He alluded that in the same vein, if the nation should make any meaningful progress then the national plan, which is the budget, had to be strictly adhered to. He said even though the nation received loans and grants from donors and development partners, a larger part of the revenue needed for development had to be generated within.

He told the revenue agencies that Ghana's estimated expenditure of 54.3 trillion cedis for this year was at par with the revenue target set for the year, emphasising that "what you collect is what we spend, so without you there will be no money to run the Country." The Finance Minister, therefore, urged them to intensify their efforts at revenue mobilization to enable the country to meet its development targets.

He also asked Ghanaians to put their shoulders to the wheel to improve the economy, pointing out that even though the country had more resources than neighbouring Burkina Faso, that land-locked country was developing very fast especially in the field of agriculture.

Ms. Helen Allotey of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, said some districts in the Region had failed to utilise funds allocated for development projects in their areas, thereby denying their communities of basic certain infrastructure.

Ms. Allotey announced that 19.7 billion cedis earmarked last year for the provision of 33 classrooms, quarters for teachers and nurses, daycare centres and boreholes in the Upper East still sat untouched in Accra.

In their reaction, the budget officers contended that the lack of adequate communication between the Finance Ministry in Accra and the Districts was responsible for the present state of affairs. They, therefore, appealed to the relevant schedule officers at the Ministry to ensure that at the beginning of every year, a list of projects and budgeted funds meant for each district was promptly forwarded to the beneficiary districts to enable them to make the necessary follow-ups.

, Acting Chief Director of the Ministry, called on budget officers in the Regions and Districts to ensure that their inputs to next year's national budget reached Accra in good time for consideration.

The Deputy Regional Minister, Alhaji Awudu Yirimeah, lauded revenue agencies in the Region for their hard work, but urged them not to rest on their oars as there were still a lot of communities that needed social amenities. 24 Feb. 07