GRi BEF News Ghana
15 - 02 - 2001
The economy is in
terrible mess - Osafo-Maafo
The economy is in
terrible mess - Osafo-Maafo
Accra, (Greater Accra) 15
February, 20001
Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of
Finance, last night confirmed to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) that the
economy is in a terrible mess with a 41.7 trillion cedis domestic debt to date
bequeathed by the NDC government.
The government would therefore
spend about 45 per cent of locally generated revenue to pay this internal debt
every month, he said.
According to the Minister, during
the last quarter of the year 2000, money printed into the economy was 900
billion cedis, which fuelled the inflation rate.
Mr Osafo-Maafo made these
revelations when he met members of the Steering Committee of the TUC as part of
his first ever familiarisation tour of important stakeholders of the economy to
discuss the state of the economy with them.
Accompanied by Dr Charles
Wereko-Brobby, Energy Advisor to President John Agyekum Kufuor, and officials
of his ministry, Mr Osafo-Maafo said the economy has collapsed, and called for
collective support and understanding from all Ghanaians to help resuscitate it.
He also confirmed that the NDC
government had paid the End-of-Service Benefits (ESB) of all its functionaries
to the tune of 3.4 billion cedis and debited it to the budget of the incoming
administration.
Mr Osafo-Maafo admitted that the
New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was conscious of the miserable plight of
Ghanaian workers and would therefore not embark upon any measures to worsen
their precarious situation.
He therefore pleaded with the labour
movement to bear with the new administration with their demands in order not to
over-turn the damaged boat completely.
In the follow-up interactions, the
Union leaders raised several pertinent issues on the perceived mismanagement of
the various sectors of the economy such as mining, road transport, agriculture
and the cocoa industry.
For instance, an official of the
Ghana Mines Workers Union (GMWU) expressed concern about the illegal banning of
Trade Union activities in the Minerals Commission to the extent that workers
were not represented on the Board of Directors, which was dominated by ex-NDC
functionaries who dissipated the funds generated by the mining companies.
The Union, he argued, must be
allowed to enter there and organise the workers and be represented on the Board
to protect the interest of the workers whose sweat generated these funds.
Another official of the General
Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) also told the Minister
that the Union was against the dubious circumstances surrounding the
divestiture of the State Transport Company (STC) to Vanef, a Car Rental
Company, and appealed to the Minister to take a critical look at the issue.
Responding, Mr Osafo-Maafo gave
the assurance that the issues raised would be examined and effectively
addressed by the government.
He said he has already started
studying certain documents on the divested STC-Vanef and found them to be very
intriguing.
The Minister commended the
leadership of the TUC for their deep knowledge of the economic issues at stake
and pledged to work very closely in solving the problems confronting the
nation.
GRi…/
Send your comments to news@ghanareview.com
Accra, (Greater Accra) 15 February
2001
Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of
Trade and Industry, on Wednesday left Accra for Abuja, Nigeria to participate
in the meeting of Ministers of Industry of the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) from February 14 to 17.
A release by the ministry said the
meeting would, among other things, review the implementation of ECOWAS
industrial master plan at national, regional and enterprise levels.
It will also identify constraints
and obstacles encountered in the implementation and find ways of evolving
policies to address them.
"It will also adopt the
framework for a new community industrial policy to be prepared with due regard
to prevailing economic conditions," the statement said.
The Ministers will determine the
main priorities and effective instruments for harmonising industrial policies
across countries and brainstorm on co-ordinating industrial development
initiatives. This is aimed at promoting private sector-led industrial
development in member states.
The statement said the meeting is
expected to come out with an updated review of national efforts...on
sustainable industrialisation at country level, which will affect the
industrial policy of Ghana's industrial integrated programme.
The Ministers are also expected to
develop capacity building programmes on sustainable industrialisation for donor
fund, produce work plan for the development of a regional programme to assist
the promotion of private sector-led industrial development renew support for
UNIDO's integrated programmes in member states.
GRi…/
Send your comments to news@ghanareview.com
No drop in inflation in first year of new
government
Accra, (Greater Accra) 15 February 2001
An economist on Wednesday predicted an unlikely drop in the inflation rate within the first year of the new administration, citing the weak economic fundamentals, notably fiscal imbalance due to huge government expenditure and the burden of domestic and external debts.
Dr Anthony Akoto-Osei, a research fellow at CEPA said this would not permit any sharp drop in the rate of about 40.5 per cent as at December last year in the short term.
Dr Akoto -Osei was speaking at a Trade Union Leadership Workshop in Accra on the state of the economy, after almost two decades of structural adjustment.
General secretaries of the various Unions and their deputies are attending the workshop on the theme: "Redefining the role of trade unions in socio-economic Development of Ghana."
It was to help the leadership to appreciate the economic situations of the country better vis-a-vis the traditional role to intervene on behalf of labour.
Dr Akoto-Osei attributed the economic crisis largely to budget imbalances that emerged in the latter part of 1999 and shortfall in revenue as a result of a fall in cocoa and gold prices on the world market.
He ruled out a cut in government expenditure almost immediately, but emphasised the need for effective control and monitoring mechanisms of such expenditures to prevent leakage and ensure that monies released for particular projects are not diverted.
"As far as possible government spending should be programmed in such a way to achieve medium term goals of human capacity development," Dr Akoto-Osei stressed.
He called for re-direction of attention to the agricultural sector, saying that any significant change in the performance of the economy will depend to a large extent on that sector's performance.
Dr Akoto-Osei suggested an intensive export diversification drive to reverse the structural defects of over-reliance on few export commodities for revenue.
On the convergence criteria for a single currency, Dr Akoto-Osei said the goals of a single digit inflation, a foreign exchange reserve equivalent to four months of export by the year 2003 are unattainable and called for the redefinition of the goals.
GRi…/
Send your comments to news@ghanareview.com
Sunyani
(Brong Ahafo) 15 Feb. 2001
Many
patrons of Ghana Telecom (GT) phone cards of smaller denominations of 25 and 50
units have attributed the nation-wide shortage of the cards to the company's
alleged wait-and-see attitude due to the change of government in the country.
A source
close to the GT office in Sunyani told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Wednesday
that the Malaysian owners of the company have been gripped with fear that the
new political administration would take back the ownership right from them.
Hence, the
management decided last December not to place new orders for the cards till
they know of their fate early this year, the source added.
The 25 and
50 unit cards are in short supply in recent times, and ordinary consumers who
mostly patronise them have become increasingly worried, as they cannot afford
the 100 and 150-unit cards, which are the ones available.
These are sold
at 23,650 and 34,900 cedis respectively.
A senior
official at the Ghana Telecom office in Sunyani, who pleaded anonymity,
however, denied that the shortage was due to the fear of withdrawal of the
current ownership right.
"It is
just a delay on the part of the overseas manufacturers to supply the order the
company placed early this year."
He assured
the public that enough stock had arrived and that, as from next week, the
retailing outlets would receive their supplies.
GRi.../
Send
your comments to news@ghanareview.com