No subsidy for non-profitable enterprises- Agamibla

Dr. Gheysika Agambila, Deputy Minister of Finance reiterated government's policy not to continue subsidising state enterprises that operate at a loss.

He said subsidising such institutions is a huge drain on the national revenue.

Dr. Agambila said this in an interview with newsmen at the Airport on his arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia after leading a 10-member Ghanaian delegation to a forum on poverty reduction strategy.

He said although the prudent option of salvaging loss-making enterprises is recapitalisation either through privatisation or a total sell-out, it would be wrong for people to think that the government will just accept any conditionality of lending institutions.

The Deputy Minister said national interest in strategic enterprises would also be maintained and protected.

Dr. Agambila said a new approach and strategy involving civil society, labour and community, was adopted instead of the "top down approach" which failed.

He explained that Ghana's delegation which included parliamentarians, civil society groups and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) is a reflection of the new demand by the international community that all stakeholders should be involved in poverty reduction programs.

Dr Agambila said gradually the donor community in moving away from attaching itself to their support to developing countries.

According to him beneficiary countries are now asserting their rights to faction out programmes at poverty reduction without sacrificing their national interest.

The four-day forum was jointly organised by the Economic Community of Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank.

Nine African countries including Ghana attended the forum which was organised by the Government of Netherlands.