We'll Pay Off ?9trillion Debt - JAK

PRESIDENT J. A. Kufuor yesterday pledged his government's determination to pay off the country's domestic debt of over ?9 trillion by the end of his tenure of office.

The successful attainment of this objective, he said, would lead to saving over ?1 trillion in domestic debt payments.

Consequently, he called on Ghanaians to put aside their political, ethnic and religious differences and work together for the common good of the country.

President Kufuor was speaking in Accra at the opening of a two-day National Economic Dialogue tasked with the objective of building consensus to accelerate national economic growth and development.

A broad spectrum of stakeholders from civil society, government and non-governmental institutions are participating in the dialogue, which would also set the target for the nation's growth.

He said the government needs the partnership of civil society, hence the need for all to strategise together and find ways of creating wealth and ensuring progress for the country.

President Kufuor offered a ray of hope for all Ghanaians when he described the future of Ghana as a "bright one".

The President stated that a number of positive signs are becoming increasingly clear, and gave an indication that Ghana's development partners have signalled their intention to write off significant amounts of her external debts through the HIPC initiative.

He announced that the government has put in place concrete plans to attract significant foreign direct and domestic investment that would take advantage of the Africa Growth Opportunities Act of the US.

"We are confident about creating thousands of new jobs through the new initiative," he maintained.

The private sector, meanwhile, is about to sign two trend-setting agreements for financial institutions that would use Ghana as the gateway to West Africa and put the country on the way to becoming the leading financial centre of West Africa.

The President disclosed that through the combination of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy and the new plans of the Ministries of Agriculture and Local Government, the government would invest heavily in agriculture to generate employment and reduce poverty levels.

Describing these as 'positive signs', President Kufuor, however, cautioned Ghanaians to be careful and act properly so that they do not portray the country in a negative light, such as what the country has had to endure over the past few days.

"The world of development finance and the global market can be very impatient," he said and advised whoever is entrusted with responsibility to work for the country to do so with circumspection and with a serious sense of duty.

President Kufuor urged those taking part in the dialogue to ensure that they concentrate on finding pragmatic solutions to the problems that have besieged the country.

This, he said, should be in the light of realities and demands of the global market in which Ghana must secure her share.

"The dialogue should not be seen as another talking shop. It should not be yet another gathering of Ghanaians who have become experts at identifying our problems only to complain, argue and blame each other for our current difficult situation," he advised.

President Kufuor said as a nation, Ghanaians are searching for the best way of doing things and noted that the country's problems can only be resolved if they all pull together to take the difficult decisions today.

"We must accept responsibility for resolving our own problems since this is the only way ahead," he said.

The Minister for Economic Planning and Regional Cooperation, Dr Kwesi Nduom, who explained the rationale behind the organisation of the dialogue, said despite the application of a variety of economic initiatives over the years, Ghana has been unable to achieve the desired growth.

He said a review of Vision 2020, which was launched by the previous government, for instance, shows that it would take the country perhaps another 50 years to achieve what was supposed to be accomplished.

"So it is appropriate for us, as a nation, to take stock and to learn from the lessons of the past 20 years. We must learn from what worked and what did not work," he indicated.

He said the National Economic Dialogue, will help determine what the country needs to do to build a more sound foundation for accelerated growth and development.

A business executive, Mr Allan Kyeremateng, who chaired the function, said Ghana needs to make a quantum leap to keep pace with developments or risk being marginalised.