GETfund figures reconciled - Osafo-Maafo

Accra, Sept. 4, GNA - Mr Yaw Osafo- Maafo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, on Thursday said the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has now agreed that the arrears due Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) was 208.81 billion cedis for the period of September 2000 to June 2003 and not the 400 billion cedis they quoted.

He said the NUGS Executives and their Lawyer accepted the figure at a meeting convened to reconcile the arrears of the GETFund. The Minister said after going through the books of the GETfund Administrator and the VAT Secretariat, all parties accepted the figures of 208.81 billion cedis as the arrears due on the GETfund for the period of September 2000 to June 2003 and not the 400 billion cedis they quoted.

Mr Osafo-Maafo, who was addressing the weekly press briefing in Accra, said upon the agreement, the Leaders of the students and their Lawyer, they promised to announce the correct figures at their just ended National Congress.

"I was expecting that NUGS would announce to its members at the congress that the figure was reconciled and that what the Minister quoted in his budget was the correct figure."

The Minister said he stated in his 2003 budget that it would not be possible to clear all the arrears at once and sought Parliament's approval to enable the government to pay the arrears over a period of five years.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said the arrears would even be paid long before the five-year period stated in the budget if things should go on well. He said to forestall future argument the Ministry paid an extra 76 billion cedis for this year's GETfund deductions.