Ghana sold for four million dollars- Asaga

Accra, Nov. 4, GNA- Mr. Moses Asaga, ranking member of Finance, on Tuesday alleged that the NPP government "sold" Ghana for a paltry sum of four million dollars to the United States by signing the anti-International Criminal Court bilateral agreement.

He said that single act by President John Agyekum Kufuor "is the worse economic decision taken by the government this year," adding that other countries who signed that agreement with the US got away with far larger sums of money.

Mr. Asaga was responding to the mid-year review of the government's economic policy presented by Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in Parliament on Tuesday.

Mr. Maafo was allowed to present the statement in a form of a motion after the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr. Freddie Blay, had ruled that he could do so. There were arguments and counter-arguments as to how the Minister should present the statement.

Mr. Asaga, NDC member for Nabdam noted that the four million dollars Ghana accepted among other benefits for signing the agreement, "constitutes a worrisome economic decision", saying that Ashanti Gold Fields was worth 1.7 billion dollars and the Obuasi deeps into the future was worth 10 billion dollars so the government could have negotiated for at least 500 million dollars.

He said Ghana's four million dollars can not compare with what the other countries who signed the same agreement negotiated for, saying Turkey managed to negotiate 20 billion dollars from the US and Egypt also receives at least 2 billion dollars from the US as bilateral aid annually.

Mr. Asaga said it was good to note that Ghana has been rated B+ on the US Multi Donor Budgetary Support (MDBS), but was quick to point out that Ghana's per capita income does not compare favourably with those of the other countries rated B+.

"Our per capita income is currently 374 US dollars, whilst that of Brazil is about 2,000 US dollars and that of Senegal is 615 US dollars yet all these countries have been rated B+," he said.

He said, at the current rate of 374 dollars, Ghana's per capita income has experienced a decline from 417 dollars in 1999.

"With GDP per capita income stunted at 374 dollars and GDP growth still less than five per cent per annum, the mid-year review of the economy shows that the economy is still fragile and the 6-9 months performance of the government does not bring any hope to Ghanaians," he said.

Mr. Asaga said the government failed woefully to meet its target of single digit inflation of nine per cent at the end of the year, adding that from 15.2 per cent in 2002 inflation doubled to 30 per cent and now stands at 27 per cent.

He argued that the increase in inflation, has been precipitated by the doubling of petroleum prices, 300 per cent increase in water and electricity tariffs and recently the 250-300 per cent increase in telecom tariffs, while workers salaries remained stagnant.

"In the 6-9 months under review, school fees have increased tremendously, transport fares has more than doubled, purchasing power has eroded seriously, unemployment rate has increased, and this is reflected in the number of children, young men and women selling on the streets," he said.

Mr. Asaga said the macro economic figures were misleading and it was important that the performance of the economy was based on the realities on the ground other than the macro-economic figures contained in the statement of the Finance Minister.

He said government's pledge to reduce rice import by 30 per cent has not been achieved, adding that government has rather reversed that decision and betrayed rice and poultry farmers in favour of the IMF and World Bank.

"The imposition of 20 per cent and five per cent tariffs on the importation of poultry and rice respectively, which was announced with pageantry was silently dropped without reference to parliament," he said.

Mr. Asaga noted that the President's Special Initiative (PSI) on Cassava suffered a setback when farmers protested against the producer price paid to them, adding that the recent contract to import salt from Brazil was hurting the PSI on salt.

He said the government's major economic decision to deduct 2.5 per cent of workers Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contribution will lower the rate of investment on SSNIT assets and dislocate the pension fund.

Mr. Asaga called on Parliament to properly review the mid-year performance of the government's economic policy before approving any supplementary budget.