Country loses 54 million dollars through illegal forest
activities
Accra (Greater Accra)
14 March 2003- Panellists at a discussion programme on the 2003 Budget on
Thursday noted the importance of low inflation to the success of government's economic
goals, but warned that care should be taken not to strangulate the economy.
They expressed the
view that the pursuit of a tighter fiscal and monetary regime could harm
economic performance through the shutting down of the productive sectors of the
economy.
The panellists said
while a tighter fiscal policy could reduce government borrowing and make more
money available to the private sector for production, lack of money in
individual pockets would squeeze demand for goods on the market and in the process
stifle growth.
The panellists were
Professor Ernest Aryeetey of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic
Research (ISSER), Seidu Adamu, Member of Parliament for Bibiani and Amos Sarfo,
Secretary of the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists.
The rest were Vitus
Azeem, Programme Co-ordinator ISODEC and Charles Appeagyei, President of the
Ghana Federation of the Disabled. The Integrated Social Development Centre
(ISODEC) organised the forum to scrutinise the economic policies underpinning
the 2003 budget and to suggest more viable options for consideration in future
budget preparations.
Professor Aryeetey
said a low inflation rate was important to inspire confidence in the economy.
However, he said, there was the need for government to adopt an approach that
would find a comfortable level of inflation that could support the growth of
the economy.
This was important to
ensure that the desire to keep inflation low did not compromise the growth of
the economy, he said, adding that there was the need to strike a delicate
balance. Touching on increased tariffs on imported rice and poultry products,
Professor Aryeetey said if the objective was to make local industries
competitive, it should be backed by focused government assistance to boost
production since imposition of tariffs alone would not make the cost of local
products cheaper.
Adamu said bringing
down the rate of inflation was very good but to suppress demand in order to
achieve it was not in the best interest of the economy. "There is need for
caution as to how far we can go and care needs to be taken at the level to
tighten the economy to prevent strangulation," he said.
Sarfo said the
imposition of the tariff was good, as it would protect domestic producers from
the unbridled importation of such products onto the Ghanaian market. Azeem said
there was the need for government to make tax administration effective but
warned that emphasis on consumption tax would make the majority of Ghanaians
poor. Appeagyei called on government to consider making specific budgetary
allocation for people with disability.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
14 March 2003- President John Agyekum Kufuor would soon launch the President's
Special Initiative (PSI) on Cotton Production. President Kufuor, who announced
this in Accra on Thursday, said it would boost the PSI on Garments and Textiles
with cotton produced in the country while offering more employment to people in
cotton producing areas.
Other PSIs are on
Cassava Industrial Starch and Oil Palm, which would be launched next month. He
announced this when the visiting Director-General of the United Nations
Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Mr Carlos Magarinos paid a courtesy
call on him at the Castle, Osu.
Magarinos, who is on
a two-day visit to Ghana, would hold discussions with officials of the trade
sector on UNIDO's programmes and inspect some UNIDO-sponsored projects.
President Kufuor said
government was prepared to undertake joint partnership ventures with
institutions to develop the PSIs initiated to move the private sector forward
and help diversify the economy.
He commended
Magarinos for the visit saying the organisation had the capacity to assist the
private sector in its development efforts. Magarinos expressed his appreciation
at Ghana's efforts at sustaining the democratic system as well as her economic
drive, especially the poverty reduction programme.
He said last year
UNIDO provided $4 million for its activities in the country with grants from
Japan, Denmark and the United Kingdom and expressed the hope that the
assistance would be increased this year.
The Director-General
said UNIDO had confidence and trust in ministries and institutions that had the
capacity to utilise their resources efficiently and effectively for the
development of the people. Magarinos invited President Kufuor to attend the
General Conference of UNIDO at its headquarters in Vienna in December.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
14 March 2003- Dr Augustine Fritz Gockel, Senior Lecturer at the Department of
Economics, University of Ghana, on Wednesday questioned the continued recording
of actual projected figures of GDP each year and called on the Government
Statistician to explain the cause of the phenomenon.
He said: "When
we look at the GDP performance in 2001, the nominal GDP projection of 38,014
billion cedis was exactly achieved to give a real GDP growth rate of 4.2 per
cent using a percentage GDP deflator of 34.7 per cent.
"In 2002,
although the projected nominal GDP of 46,875 billion cedis was exceeded when
provisional estimates put the budgetary out-turn at 47,764 billion cedis, the
projected real GDP growth rate of 4.4 per cent was what turned out to be
actual."
Deflator is
statistical factor or device designed to adjust the difference between values
unaffected by inflation, called real or constant values, and the value as
affected by inflation, called nominal or dollar values.
Dr Gockel, who was
speaking at a seminar to review the 2003 budget statement organised by Private
Enterprise Foundation (PEF) said: "I think we must this time call on the
government statistician to educate us on several of these fine tunings."
The seminar,
sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) formed part of an
annual review of the national budget to enable the PEF identify areas of
concern with the aim of making recommendations to the government to help move
the private sector forward.
Dr Gockel explained
that it was rarely possible to continue to achieve the exact figures of macro
economic targets over a number of years. He said for 2003, government had set
general targets to strengthen the tax base, reduce the burden of domestic debt
and improve public expenditure management.
The targets also set
out to allocate resources efficiently, according to the designated priorities
in the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) now the Growth and Poverty
Reduction Strategy.
Specific indicators
for the year, among other indices, are GDP growth rate of at least 4.7 per
cent; reduction of inflation from 15.2 to nine per cent; budget deficit
equivalent to 3.6 per cent of GDP and domestic primary budget surplus of three
per cent of GDP.
On the implications
of the indicators of the targets and whether they were achievable, Dr Gockel
said there was the need for government to exercise caution on several grounds
in implementing policies geared to achieve, primarily the GDP target.
He explained that
besides the very mediocre performance of 3.7 per cent in 2000, the GDP growth
rates experienced in 2001 and 2002 were not substantially different from
historical antecedents since 1996.
"Secondly, the
statistical basis, as researchers on Ghana's economy have persistently noted
are not exactly convincing," Dr Gockel said. He also warned that the
"well deserved ambition of raising per capita income to at least 1,000
dollars in the foreseeable future would require growth rates that are at least
twice what they are now".
Dr Gockel said the
targets of the 2003 budget required that the government worked to overcome the
macro economic setbacks which included the hybrid set of problems in the
manufacturing sector and to ensure that the exchange rates for the cedi would
not be overvalued.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
14 March 2003- The Ethiopian government has agreed to host this year's Annual
Meeting of the African Development Bank. The meeting originally scheduled to
take place at Abidjan; the headquarters of the bank would now take place in
Addis Ababa from 3 to 5 June 2003.
A statement issued by
the Board of Directors of the Bank in Tunis on Thursday said the Bank's
governors representing 53 regional and 24 non-regional member-countries of the
Bank, would evaluate and approve the operations of the bank in the previous
year and its work programme for the following year.
The Annual Meeting,
which is a privileged meeting point for the African and global business and
finance communities, for the first time would be held jointly with the
ministerial meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
(UNECA). The agenda of the meetings would also include a symposium to focus on
key aspects of African economies and development.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
14 March 2003- Government and the United Nations Industrial
Development
Organisation (UNIDO) on Thursday agreed to finalise, adopt and implement
Ghana's Integrated Industrial Policy which falls under key on-going projects
and programmes.
A communiqué signed
by Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry, and Carlos Magarinos,
Director-General of UNIDO in Accra, said the two bodies also agreed to review
the second edition of Ghana's industrial and trade performance.
The communiqué was
signed at the end of a two-day visit of Magarinos, who was in the country as a
follow up mission to assess the implementation of UNIDO-funded projects and
programmes under the Government of Ghana (GOG) and UNIDO Integrated Programmes
(IP).
UNIDO's interests in
Ghana are to help improve the industrial sector and promote cleaner production
practices. In furtherance of this, the communiqué said the two parties also
agreed to collaborate to improve the quality of food production, support
private sector associations and rural enterprise development projects and build
the capacity of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and the Free Zones Board.
The communiqué said
Ghana and the UNIDO further agreed to explore new opportunities for
collaboration to expand textile/garment training centre with particular
reference to a textile-training unit to support the President's Special
Initiative.
The collaboration
would also involve Agricultural Machinery Industrial System Project and the
establishment of a cleaner production centre with particular focus on
technology transfer to reduce the level of industrial pollution.
The communiqué said
the implementation of the agreements would be guided by the principles of
ownership of programmes and projects by key stakeholders in the private sector
and government.
Other principles
would be to generate employment through investment promotion and partnership
particularly for the development of small and medium industries. "The
government is by this enjoined to exhibit commitment to invest resources in the
programmes developed and to mobilise additional resources from donors,"
the communiqué said.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
14 March 2003- Carlos Magarinos, Director-General of the United Nations
Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), said on Thursday that the
organisation was impressed with the way Ghana's economy had been managed so far
and expressed the hope that the achievements made especially in the industrial
sector would be sustained to make the nation a model for replication.
At a meeting with Dr
Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry in Accra, Magarinos, however, said it was necessary
for the government to evaluate the performance of the industrial sector to ensure
that programmes were in line with development goals.
Magarinos said UNIDO
had so far funded the first phase of its projects in Ghana relating to the
development of the industrial sector, improving on standards and promoting
cleaner production practices to the tune of about $5 million.
The second phase of
similar projects, which would begin, soon would also attract the same amount.
The Director General is in the country to hold talks with development partners
in the industrial sector and assess progress of projects with the National
Board for Small-Scale Industries, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, the
Association of Ghana Industries and the Ghana Standards Board.
Other local partners
include the Institute of Economic Affairs, which reviews trade and industrial
policies and performance and the Environmental Protection Agency, which
undertakes education on the adoption of cleaner production practices proven to
be more cost effective.
Magarinos said he and
Dr Apraku would review areas of interest in order to know in what way UNIDO
could assist Ghana to alleviate poverty. Some areas of concern to the
Director-General include technology transfer, facilitating trade in the
Sub-Region and cleaner production practices, which, he said, were necessary to
reduce pollution in Ghana.
The Director-General
said UNIDO was committed to helping developing countries to attract investment.
He said the organisation would facilitate an investment forum for developing
countries in October and urged Ghana's delegation to prioritise about two
sectors that would attract investment as part of their agenda.
Representatives of
projects being implemented briefed the Director-General on their activities,
which were mostly sensitisation programmes and called for increased support to
sustain them. Dr Apraku said the government appreciated the assistance given by
UNIDO and added that they would together work to develop Ghana's industrial
sector.
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Kumasi (Ashanti
Region) 14 March 203- The government has warned that it would not hesitate to
sanction distribution companies that arbitrarily increased the prices of their
goods.
Yaw Osafo-Maafo,
Minister of Finance, who gave the warning, said although the government would
not re-introduce price controls into the system, the Ministry of Trade and
Industry would not sit down unconcerned for some unscrupulous businessmen to
cheat the people and create bad image for the government.
Osafo-Maafo was
reacting to a question posed by a participant at a public forum to discuss the
2003 budget in Kumasi on Wednesday on the need for the government to introduce
measures to curb the arbitrary increases of prices of goods and services by
retailers and distributors, following the recent increase in petroleum prices.
He said the
government might be forced to revoke the licences of companies that were taking
undue advantage of the situation to cheat Ghanaians and tarnish the image of
the government.
Osafo-Maafo also
announced that the government would soon review rent laws in the country as
part of measures to introduce sanity into the housing industry. He said the
current situation where landlords demanded between one and four years' rent
advance before providing accommodation was unacceptable and should not be
allowed to continue.
He said landlords had
over the years, abused the laws governing rent in the country and were
demanding unreasonably high rent advances to the detriment of tenants. The
Finance Minister said government would pursue vigorous laws that would prevent
landlords from cheating and collecting rent advances covering more than six
months.
He said as part of
measures to solve the accommodation problems facing Ghanaians, government had
directed the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to construct
additional housing units in regional and district capitals and rent them out to
workers.
The Ministry of Works
and Housing was also pursuing housing policies that would ease accommodation
problems in the country. Osafo-Maafo described the 2003 Budget as development
and revenue mobilisation oriented and called on Ghanaians to assist the
government to identify all loopholes to ensure increased revenue for
development.
He observed that
managing the national economy called for basic skills and common sense and gave
the assurance that if war was averted in Iraq and the world economy went well,
the budget would offer a better future for Ghanaians.
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Accra (Greater Accra)
14 March 2003- The cedi clawed back its value against eight major currencies at
the Inter-Bank Exchange Rates on Thursday. The Ghanaian currency gained against
the Pound Sterling, Euro, Swiss Franc, Canadian Dollar, Danish Kroner, Japanese
Yen, South African Rand and CFA Franc. It retained its value against the Naira
and lost 18 pessewas against the Dollar.
Currency Buying (Cedis)
Selling (Cedis)
U.S. Dollar 8,452.00 8,648.00
U.S. Dollar 8,451.82 8,648.00
Pound Sterling 13,571.38 13,890.42
Pound Sterling 13,574.47 13,893.88
Swiss Franc 6,276.94 6,420.05
Swiss Franc 6,351.52 6,497.02
Canadian Dollar 5,719.56 5,848.35
Canadian Dollar 5,737.79 5,868.59
Danish Kroner 1,241.74 1,269.98
Danish Kroner 1,255.77 1,284.26
Japanese Yen 71.63
73.27
Japanese Yen 71.97 73.62
South African Rand 1,051.21 1,068.94
South African Rand 1,066.77 1,084.69
Euro 9,221.56 9,430.66
Euro 9,327.61 9,540.53
CFA Franc
14.06 14.38
CFA Franc
14.22 14.54
Naira 67.46 69.02
Naira 67.46 69.03
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Accra (Greater Accra)
14 March 2003
Currency Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar 8,452.00 cedis
8,648.00 cedis
Pound Sterling 13,571.38 13,890.42
Swiss Franc 6,276.94 6,420.05
Canadian Dollar 5,719.56 5,848.35
Danish Kroner 1,241.74 1,269.98
Japanese Yen 71.63 73.27
South African Rand 1,051.21 1,068.94
Euro 9,221.56 9,430.66
CFA Franc
14.06 14.38
Naira 67.46 69.02
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Akyawkrom (Ashanti
Region) 14 March 2003- Ghana loses about 54 million dollars annually through
the activities of illegal chainsaw operations in the forests as well as other
nefarious activities which greatly threatened the economy.
Kojo Wireko-Brobbey,
a member of the Forestry Commission, who disclosed this, therefore, called for
stiffer laws against illegal chainsaw operators and others, who destroyed the
forests as a measure to forestalling the increasing depletion of the country's
forests.
He was addressing a
three-day Capacity Building Workshop for representatives of the Forestry
Commission and Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) at Akyawkrom
in the Ejisu-Juaben District on Wednesday.
Wireko-Brobbey
estimated that currently, the rate of deforestation stood at about 22,000
hectares a year. The workshop organised by the Forestry Commission in
collaboration with Ricera e Co-operazione, an Italian NGO, sought to bring
together forestry and environmental NGOs to co-ordinate their activities in an
effective manner to harmonise their knowledge on forestry issue.
It was also expected
to provide the opportunity for a strong partnership and dialogue between the
government, civil society and stakeholders in forestry and NGOs in the field of
natural resources management.
Consequently, he
called for regular public education in forest preservation to enhance public
awareness of environmental degradation and also be part of government's
initiative to combat the illegal chainsaw menace.
Wireko-Brobbey said
plans were underway to get the northern part of the country reforested to
enrich the land. Dr G. Da Re, a representative of Ricera e Co-operazione,
expressed the hope that the participants would benefit greatly from the
workshop and thereby supplement government's effort at combating the activities
of destroyers of the forests. She said the time had come for the forest to be
reserved and protected since forests had a multiplying effect on the economy.
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