Finance Ministers of WAMZ urged to accommodate each other

Accra, Dec. 17, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday asked Finance Ministers of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) to accommodate each other and make compromises to achieve what underpins their efforts to realize a common currency.

"We should also see through our national interests for the greater benefit of the West African Sub-Region', he said.

President Kufuor made the call when the Finance Ministers attending a meeting in Accra in preparation for the 27th Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) paid a courtesy call on him at the Castle, Osu.

They were from Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. He said West Africa was gradually becoming one country and their meeting was very important to establish the second monetary zone in addition to the CFA Zone.

President Kufuor expressed the hope that the Ministers would rise to the expectation and through their deliberations, realize the common currency by July 2005 and by the end of the decade the Sub-Region would have a single currency for both the Anglophone and Francophone countries.

Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning and Chairman of the Convergence Council, who led the Ministers, briefed President Kufuor about their deliberations.

He said he was optimistic that the report from the technical committee meeting which based its deliberations on the convergence criteria of member countries; their budgets for next year and the location of the Central Bank of WAMZ would receive the approval of the Heads of States and Government.

Ghana had been able to achieve three out of the four primary criteria required by member countries to achieve the convergence. They are, budget deficit as against Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio which should be less than or equal to four per cent, Central Bank financing of the budget deficit in relation to the previous year's tax revenue that was equal to 10 per cent and three months reserve for import.

Ghana is yet to attain the single digit inflation threshold. 17 Dec.03