GRi Business
Economics & Finance 30 - 03 - 2002
Push
for total debt cancellation - High Commissioner
Govt
warned against privatising vital state institution
Accra
(Greater Accra) 30 March 2002 - Ghana's High Commissioner to the United
Kingdom, Mr Isaac Osei has called on the Jubilee Debt Campaign to go beyond
their mandate of seeking relief from debt payments and servicing to push for
the total cancellation of debts of African countries.
He said
this would enable African countries to start a new relationship with the
developed countries under the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) initiative
on a clean slate. Mr Osei made the call at the Jubilee Debt Campaign's annual
general meeting in London, a statement released to the Ghana News Agency in
Accra on Friday said.
The Jubilee
Debt Campaign UK is a coalition of various non-governmental organisations
canvassing for debt relief for the world's poorest countries through fair and
transparent processes. He said there was no way most of the world's poorest
countries could pay their debts and added that the massive and unsustainable
external debt remained a major obstacle to growth.
"It
deters private investment, threatens the sustainability of reforms, disrupts
the smooth functioning of the state and calls into question the very survival
of some poor countries' economies" he stressed.
Mr Osei said
that the challenge facing the international community was how to deepen global
integration, without impairing the interest of poor countries and argued that
it was in the long-term interests of the rich countries of the north to offer
the rest of the world the opportunity afforded by economic integration, just as
it was in the interest of poor countries of the south to exploit them".
This, he
said, could be done by a combination of debt cancellation, increased aid and
freer trade. Touching on efforts being made to resuscitate the Ghanaian
economy, Mr Osei told his audience that the Government had finalised the
preparation of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) for 2002-2004, with
greater emphasis on participation of key partners, including civil society, the
media, private sector, all arms of government, development partners as well as decentralised
agencies.
He said the
priorities over the period were centered on infrastructure development,
modernised agriculture based on rural development, enhanced social services,
good governance, private sector development and poverty reduction with a view
to the creation of wealth at a faster rate in order to reduce poverty in a
sustained manner.
The High
Commissioner pointed out that the bold economic reforms introduced by the
government had made Ghana become one of the first countries to reach the
decision point under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative in
less than a year. Dr Ashok Sinha, Coalition Co-ordinator of the Jubilee Debt
Campaign, urged the Government of Ghana to vigorously pursue the on-going
current reforms to reduce poverty in the country.
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 30 March 2002 - The government is in the process of mechanising
the clearance of imported goods into the country, the Minister of Finance Mr
Yaw Osafo-Maafo told a meeting with the staff of the Ghana High Commission in
London on Thursday.
According
to a statement from the High Commission, the Minister said the new system would
eliminate the present laborious manual processes, which were often fraught with
corruption, over and under-invoicing of imported goods.
Mr
Osafo-Maafo said the restoration of macro-economic stability, coupled with the
institution of a prudent fiscal discipline within one year of the NPP
administration had won the confidence of the international financial community.
On the
proposed scheme to enable importers to pay duties on imported goods overseas,
the Minister explained that the scheme would enable the country to derive
revenue in foreign exchange and hasten the process of clearing goods from the
country's entry points.
Mr
Osafo-Maafo said the government would not get involved in the business of
tourism, but would rather create the infrastructure and enabling environment to
encourage potential investors in the hospitality industry. He expressed the
hope that Ghanaian diplomats would continue to work hard to ensure the flow of
investment into the country.
Mr Kwesi
Abeasi, Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre said although
there had been a slow down in foreign direct investment due to the September 11
terrorist attacks on the United States, the GIPC was working towards making
itself a one-stop shop for potential investors.
He said
with the current stable macroeconomic environment, it was likely that the flow
of foreign direct investment would increase sooner or later. Mr Abeasi said the
GIPC had also decided to task the foreign missions with the responsibility of
co-ordinating investment drive abroad in efforts to attract more investment
into the country. The London Mission will handle Europe, Malaysia-Asia while
the Mission in the US will take care of the Americas.
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Sekondi
(Western Region) 30 March 2002 - Mr Siedu Adamu, Member of Parliament (MP) for
Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai constituency on Wednesday warned the government against
the privatisation of vital state institutions because it could impact
negatively on the country's economy. He cited the Ghana Water Company (GWCL),
Ghana Commercial Bank, (GCB) Ghana Telecom (GT) and the National Investment Bank
(NIB).
The MP said
the prescriptions of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and
other international financial institutions that were prompting the government
to privatise those bodies should not be implemented wholly.
Mr Adamu
was speaking at a day's public forum on this year's budget organised by Friends
of the Nation (FON) and International Social Development Centre (ISODEC) both
non-governmental organisations, at Sekondi.
He warned
the government against the removal of subsidies on electricity and water since
that would affect the incomes of workers. Mr Adamu also called on the
government to increase the salaries of workers to enable them to cope with the
rising cost of living and to address all other labour issues.
Mr Kwesi
Biney, District Chief Executive of Ahanta West, speaking on prospects for
growth, said that the country's unstable electricity supply was likely to
affect the growth of the economy.
He noted
that businesses could not flourish in an environment of frequent power cuts
since this would lead to losses in both human and economic gains. He,
therefore, called on stakeholders in the power supply sector to work
assiduously towards regular power supply.
Mr Biney
noted that any attack by the US on Iraq, could result in increase in the price
of crude oil on the world market and its resultant effects would be felt in the
country.
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