Ghana needs more budgetary support - World Bank

The World Bank Country Director, Mr Peter Harold says more programmes and budgetary support from the development partners are critical to ensure that the government maintains and consolidates its efforts to restore macroeconomic stability.

"To put it simply, we need to get things going. We hope an understanding about this and about the likely support for the economic programme will emerge clearly," he said.

Mr Harold, speaking at the opening of a three-day consultative Group meeting between the government and the donor community in Accra on Monday, however, said the meeting was not primarily about fundraising but rather a forum to lay appropriate basis to ensure a continued and adequate level of funding over a period of time.

It is discussing Ghana's "Agenda for Growth and Prosperity" in sessions covering the Economic Situation and Prospects, the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy and Decentralisation and Governance.

Also on the agenda are the five priority development areas President John Agyekum Kufuor had identified. These are infrastructure, modernised agriculture based on rural development, enhanced social services, good governance and private sector development.

Mr Harold said although the government inherited a dangerous economic situation, it had, however, through tighter control over fiscal expenditure, domestic borrowing and money supply managed to reduce inflation and achieved a rise in reserves.

"We have also seen the successful restructuring of domestic debt and the conclusion of the HIPC (Highly Indebted Poor Countries) decision point, which give some space for greater expenditures on poverty reducing activities," he said.

Inflation rate declined to around 20 per cent at end of the year and the cedi has been stable. Also the external environment similarly improved, allowing the authorities to increase international reserves to about 1.5 months of imports by the end of 2001.

Mr Harold said it was clear that the efforts to restore macroeconomic sanity would now be of less concern than to efforts to raise and achieve a more balanced growth than was the case in the last 10 years.

The Minister of Finance Yaw Osafo-Maafo said although the government had relied on the donor community for support it was aware that the responsibility to put in place appropriate measures to fight and alleviate poverty was entirely in its domain. "Your efforts to assist us can be only as fruitful as we are prepared and committed to bring ourselves to the task, with no pretences of seriousness," he said.

He thanked the donor community for its support to the government since the mini CG in January last year, which enabled it to counteract the financial pressure on the economy. About 1.5 billion dollars in external assistance were committed to Ghana during the last Consultative Group meeting for 1999-2000.