GRi Business, Economics & Finance 11 –
04 - 2003
Parliament on 28 March approved
of government spending for the fiscal year 2003, before breaking for the Easter
recess, Mr A.I. Rashid, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Finance,
said in a statement issued in
It said: "The approval is
contained in the Appropriation Act, which is based on Article 176(2) of the
Constitution. "The Act provides that all
estimates of expenditure of public offices shall be included in a bill, usually
in the form of the Budget Statement, presented to Parliament by the Minster of
Finance.
"The passing of the Act
means that the Budget Statement presented to Parliament, including various
initiatives and economic measures, has been approved. It also means that public
officials may now access funds up to the approval limits to implement their
programmes as outlined in the Budget Statement.
"The Total
spending approved for the financial year 2003 amounts to 21.3 trillion cedis,
About 44 per cent of this amount is earmarked to finance statutory payments
including transfers to households by way of pensions and gratuities and the
national health fund; interest on the public debt; the District Assemblies'
Common Fund, the Petroleum related, Road and Education Trust Funds. The
remaining 56 percent will finance discretionary expenditure, which includes
Civil Service Payroll, General Administration and Services and Development
Expenditures.
"The passing of the
Appropriation Act by Parliament marks the end of the budget preparation,
presentation, dialogue and approval processes, which typically begins in July
of the preceding year. "All Ministries,
Department and Agencies submit their budget estimates to the Ministry of
Finance at Budget Hearings that normally takes place in October. "The
approved estimates are then sent to the Cabinet for further scrutiny and
approval.
"These Draft Estimates are
presented to Parliament by end November. "The
Ministry of Finance uses the approved estimates to prepare the National Budget
and Economic Policy, which it presents to Parliament in February.
"This presentation
initiates debate among the Members of Parliament, who through various
Parliamentary Select Committees, will conduct their
own hearings on the various estimates by all Ministries, Department and Agencies.
"Their approval of the
budget authorises that monies can now be withdrawn to meet government spending
for the financial year. "Parliament on
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Development partners, who have
currently agreed to direct some of their development support directly into the budget
includes the World Bank, African Development Bank, European Union, United
Kingdom, Canada and The Netherlands.
The Ministry of Finance in a
statement its Public Relations Officer, Ala-u-deen Ismail-Rashid, signed for the Minister of Finance, Yaw Osafo-Maafo
said, "direct budgetary support is an untied
aid".
"Funds are provided in
support of government programmes, which focus on growth and poverty
reduction". It said the untied aid "is a vote of confidence in the
modest progress the government has made to date towards the control and
monitoring of public expenditures".
The statement said the
development partners were willing to rely on government financial management
and accountability systems in delivering development aid. "Our
responsibility is to use these resources in a way that will bring the maximum
benefits to Ghanaians".
It said, "the Ministry of Finance, acting on behalf of the Government
of Ghana and our Development Partners (DPs) endorsed
a Framework Memorandum that will guide the Multi-Donor Budgetary Support arrangements
at the Mini-Consultative Group meeting held in
The statement said: "It is
important to note that Parliament was briefed on this Framework Memorandum
while the Minister was seeking support for the passage of the Appropriation Act
on 28 Friday March 2003.
"For
"We have realised that
"Delays and shortfalls in
donor inflows have often forced government to cut back on development
expenditures. Sometimes, the shortfalls have resulted in unplanned domestic
financing or in non-concessional external
borrowing," the statement explained.
This obviously imposes additional
burden on future budgeting. The statement recalled that in April 2002, the
Government and her Development Partners began discussions on a new initiative
called the Multi-Donor Budgetary Support, which would make the partners to
contribute funds directly into the Consolidated Fund and government would use
the resources to finance development expenditures as outlined in the budget and
approved by Parliament.
It said: "The disbursement
of funds will be based on how well the government is carrying through its programmes
of growth and poverty reduction and transforming institutions that make budget
planning and implementation effective, and on how well the economy is
performing based on macro-economic and social indicators.
The new arrangements represent a
major improvement in government-donor relationships and it is expected to simplify
disbursement procedures and practices; improve the predictability of aid
inflows and prevent the need for matching funds, which in the past had been one
of the causes of delays in disbursements.
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"It is the failure of the
implementation in the world's poorest countries of policies designed for the
world's most developed countries," the French Minister for External Trade,
François Loos said.
A statement issued by the French
Embassy in
Loos said according to the
African Development Bank, reducing trade barriers by half would benefit
developing countries as a whole to the tune of 200 billion dollars by 2015,
whereas the benefit derived by Sub-Saharan Africa would be only 2.5 billion, that is 1.2 per cent of the total.
"It is time for us to
consider, together with the African countries, methods of adapting our trade
rules. Better still, we should devise new ones. "The New Partnership for
"They are starting to take
the initiative in the relevant organisations and are becoming organised on a
regional basis." Loos said developed countries were prepared to introduce
arrangements adapted to
He also noted that World Trade
Organisation (WTO) rules did not currently allow distinctions to be made
between developing countries according to their wealth levels and said this
should be made possible.
Loos said his country was
advocating preferential trade treatment for Sub-Saharan Africa on a long-term
basis. He said if it were organised around preferential rules, trade could
become one of the main instruments of development and peace for
"Thus, as trade rules vary
according to the countries to which Sub-Saharan countries export, let us in
each case retain only the most favourable in order that each of these countries
may benefit from the most advantageous treatment.
"The poorest producers are
vulnerable to fluctuations in the prices of raw materials: We must find
together a way of tackling major difficulties like these which are faced by the
African continent and stop ignoring a problem that still bears the scars of too
many past failures."
Loos said agricultural export
support policies, whatever their form, including food aid and export credits,
could destabilise local food production in certain circumstances adding,
"let us introduce a moratorium on support for agricultural exports to
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 April 2003-
The Ministry of Finance on Thursday said it released about 21.6 billion cedis
to all beneficiaries of mineral and timber royalties on April 2 and urged the
various communities to use the money for development.
A statement signed by Ala-u-deen Ismail-Rashid, Public
Relations Officer, said the Ministry had fully settled the outstanding mineral royalties
for 2000 amounting to about 11.5 billion cedis
It has also released about 12.7
billion cedis to the Administrator of Stool Lands to fully settle the outstanding
mineral royalties for 2001. It said out of the outstanding mineral royalties of
about 15.3 billion cedis for 2002, an amount of 150 million cedis had been
released to the Akrokerri Stool as part payment of
their outstanding Mineral royalties for the year 2002.
An additional amount of about
7.6 billion cedis, which is 50 per cent of the balance, has been released to the
Administrator of Stool Lands as part-payment to all the beneficiaries. The
statement said for this year no advice has been received from Internal Revenue
Service on the transfer of mineral royalties.
It said the Ministry had fully
settled the outstanding timber royalties of 15.309 billion cedis covering the
period 1991-2000. The Ministry said the Forestry Services Division had paid the
total timber royalties of 7.2 billion cedis for 2001 to the various
beneficiaries.
For 2002, a total amount of 16.1
billion cedis in respect of timber royalties had been paid to the various beneficiaries
for the period January to September 2002 by the Forestry Services Division.
"It is the hope and prayer
of the Minister of Finance that these huge releases to various traditional
areas will be used to enhance development in the relevant areas," the
statement said. The Ministry urged Members of Parliament and District Chief
Executives to encourage the areas to utilise these resources for development.
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Ada-Junction (Greater Accra)
The three clans which are: Tekperboawe, Lomobiawe and Adibiawe have in a resolution signed by the Chiefs and
Headmen of Ada Traidtional
Area (CHATA) and Ada Songor
Basin Owners Committee (ASLBOC) declared that it is their group that could
point the way forward for Ada Songor
Salt Project.
In the resolution CHATA and
ASLBOC said a previous resolution passed by the Ada
Traditional Council, Ada Co-operative Salt Miners
Union, Ada Songor Marketing
Association and the Concerned Youth Association on 1 April was null and void
and described it as "A Big April Fool".
It noted that no one could give
out what he has not got and anyone who gives out what does not belong to him acts
fraudulently and whosoever receives such an item has also acted dishonestly.
The resolution said the
government of
It referred to the 4.5 million
dollars compensation due to be paid to VSPL and SCIL by government that has not
been paid, and questioned the government's continued
trusteeship.
The resolution said CHATA and
ASLBOC are now organised to pay off the 4.5 million dollars, to have the Songor Lagoon and adjoining lands "returned to us
unencumbered, since it is the government's owned proposal approved by Cabinet."
"CHATA and ASLBOC are
organised to prepare at our own expense, a comprehensive survey and land use
plan for the Songor Lagoon and adjoining lands, as
well as manage all investments with our investors in true private spirit
without government intervention, consistent with the policy of Golden Age of
Business."
The resolution called on the
government to indicate to the group the account number or bank where the 4.5
million dollars should be paid, and set the timetable for the repeal of PNDCL
287.
It said as owners of the lands,
"the three clans have every legal right under PNDCL 287 and the 1992
Constitution, to visit and inspect our own property without Police permit or
any interference from the security agencies."
The resolution warned that if
their patience is exhausted, "we shall take legal action in the law court
to compel the government to render accounts to (us) the owners for its
trusteeship since 1992, and stop diverting our resources without our authority
as owners.
"We will take every measure
permitted by law to keep away trespassers, encroachers and intruders in order
to create a peaceful atmosphere in the Songor Lagoon
area for our lessees and joint venture partners to commence construction and
operations.
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Currency Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar 8,516.36 8,717.09
Pound
Swiss Franc 6,168.02 6,311.33
Canadian Dollar 5,814.37 5,948.90
Danish Kroner 1,235.87
1,264.87
Japanese Yen 71.09
72.75
South African
Euro 9,179.49 9,393.03
CFA Franc 13.99
14.32
Naira 67.62 69.21
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo)
Debrah was briefing newsmen in Sunyani
on his participation in an investment forum to showcase the economic potentials
and investment opportunities of Brong Ahafo in the
It was initiated by Alan Kyerematen, former
Debrah said a company, the Metropolitan
Community Development Corporation, had planned to build a 500-bedroom capacity
hotel in Brong Ahafo to give a boost to the hospitality industry in the region.
The facility will be sited
around Kintampo-Techiman-Wenchi area where most of the
region's tourist attractions like waterfalls, animal sanctuary and national
parks are located. He said the President of the company, Edward Locket and his team, would arrive in
Debrah, who was accompanied on the trip
by Francis Opoku Boateng, Regional
Co-ordinating Director and some businessmen from the region, said the forum was
acclaimed as one of the most successfully organized in recent times in the
He added that all the projects
by the region attracted investors who became very excited and expressed their desire
to come and invest in the region. Debrah said a team
from Invectica Group of Companies led by its Business
Development Manager, are interested in agro processing
and brick tile industries and would visit the region to inspect some clay
deposit sites and some agro processing companies.
Mrs Cherly
Dobbin, President of Basic Technologies International Corporation, requested
for 24 kilometres square expanse of land to establish an animal husbandry, to
process cassava, spices and animal products for export.
A business delegation from the
New Jersey Chamber of Commerce will visit
He said Kwamena Bartels,
Minister of Private Sector Development, who also participated in the forum,
explained that the situation at the country's ports had changed for the better.
Debrah appealed to the media to assist
in promoting domestic tourism to attract both international tourists and
potential investors. He said he later interacted with Brong Ahafo community in
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