Stability of the economy not artificial - Osafo-Maafo

Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance said on Thursday that the stabilisation of the cedi was not artificial as being peddled by opponents of the government pointing out that improvements in the lifestyle of Ghanaians was ample testimony.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said because past governments and economists failed to bring the necessary sanity the economy needed to grow some were very pessimistic about the achievements of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) within one year.

The Finance Minister was addressing a Peoples' Regional Assembly in Accra as part of activities marking nine years of the Fourth Republic and one year of President John Agyekum Kufuor's administration being organised under the theme : "One year of positive change ."

He said the business community could bear testimony to the fact that the foreign exchange rate was not as erratic as it was in the past and they were now comfortable to provide goods and services without the fear of making losses.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said the inflation the country experienced every Christmas was due to the fact that most traders increased their prices during the season in anticipation of the fall in the value of the cedi in the New Year.

"People now go to the market without the fear of price increases and that is the way the gains made by the economy is transforming into their pockets," he said, attracting wild cheers from the crowd including Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, District Chief Executives, Chiefs and Queen Mothers.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said the government was not ready to pump excess money into the economy to create inflation and so measures were in place to ensure that only services rendered were paid for. "From now on we will make sure that people earn only the money they worked for," he stressed.

He said the government was working out modalities for the disbursement of credit facilities to small and medium-scale entrepreneurs to boost their productivity.

Sheikh Ibrahim Cudjoe Quaye, Greater Accra Regional Minister said in response to a question that last year government paid 2.6 trillion cedis arrears to road contractors to facilitate the execution of new contracts.

Mr Isaac Amoo, MP for Ayawaso West Wagon, announced that government had plans to import buses to boost mass transportation in the country. He said commuter railway services had been introduced to achieve this goal.