BUDGET: Government has made major strides

Accra, Nov. 15, GNA - Government has made major strides in ensuring sustainable growth and development and considerably reducing poverty levels in the country, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu said on Thursday.

"We have come a long way since January 2001 and we all know that a great deal has been achieved," he said while presenting the 2008 Budget to Parliament.

He said the future looked bright and promising adding that many successes had been chalked and considerable progress made. Mr Baah-Wiredu said; "we believe that we are closer to our dream of attaining our desired and cherished goal of reaching middle income country status.

"We have moved from a state of economic fragility to a stabilised and robust economy, halved extreme poverty from 36.5 per cent in 1991/1992 to about 18 per cent in 2005/2006, and improved the business environment for a thriving private sector.

"Likewise, we have increased the real minimum wage from less than US$0.50 to US$2.1 as at today."

Mr Baah-Wiredu said with regard to the provision of infrastructure, significant investments were being made in the energy and road sectors to further accelerate economic growth.

He said several major roads, such as Mallam - Kasoa; Pantang - Mamfe; Tema - Sogakope; Ofankor - Nsawam; the Asafo Market - UTC Roundabout Interchange and the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange had been reconstructed.

Educational facilities had been expanded at all levels and there had been rapidly increasing enrolment through the capitation grant, school feeding programme and payment of subsidies to senior high schools.

The Minister said "the Government had also created 31 model senior high schools and more health conscious population with our shift from curative to preventive health.

"Ghanaians now have improved access to better health facilities through the National Health Insurance programme, launched the effort for early detection of breast and prostrate cancer."

On governance, Mr Baah-Wiredu said through a number of various interventions, Government had provided a much more open, transparent and accountable governance.

He said the creation of more districts and the increase in the District Assemblies' Common Fund (DACF) allocation would deepen the decentralisation process, facilitate more participatory governance, and increase funding for the development of our communities.

"Government is resolved to do what it takes to get us even closer to our goal and I am confident that the policies and programmes being implemented will get us there.

"However we also believe that we need to address and change certain critical issues to hasten our journey." He said these critical issues included the Ghanaian work ethic, time management, general attitude towards state property and the maintenance culture.

"It is our conviction that equal, if not more attention, should be paid to these soft developmental issues as they set the context for all the policies we are implementing.

"We are of the opinion that progress is underpinned by a sense of purpose. With a population of 22 million Ghanaians, any minute wasted is 22 million minutes wasted. We should, therefore, ensure that we manage time effectively to make maximum use of this important resource." Mr Baah-Wiredu called on all Ghanaians to rededicate ourselves to the achievement of the goals and the dreams Ghanaians have set for themselves.

"We should work harder and strive for excellence in all our endeavours and show respect to our countrymen and countrywomen. Let us look into the future with hope and a sense of anticipation because the future is certainly bright.

He said he believed that the coming years held good and bright prospects for the country and urged all to have high expectations and not to be content and complacent with accomplishments.