Govt. will stabilise economy - Mills

Vice-President John Evans Atta Mills says the current economic crisis facing the country is temporary and that the government is working vigorously to stabilise the situation. He was speaking at the opening of a four-day workshop on "Re-inventing Government". The workshop, the third in a series, will discuss and approve action plans for the restructuring and re-engineering of 25 public sector institutions to ensure quantitative customer service delivery in those institutions.

Prof. Mills said the current economic crisis, characterised by falling prices of Ghana's major exports and currency as well as the increased price of crude oil, calls for a rethinking of the development strategies for this country. "It is evident that the government of the NDC is doing everything possible to restore the economy and business to normalcy. We shall vigorously pursue our development agenda until the national agenda set out in Ghana's Vision 2020 is achieved," he added.

Prof. Mills said the government is conscious of history, which has shown that great nations and organisations are often the result of great leadership "and that is just what we are determined to offer". He noted that a leader, no matter his greatness, cannot achieve his vision without the support and commitment of others in the organisation to translate that vision into reality. He said it is the goal of the government to improve the performance of its institutions to offer the necessary support to propel the economy into a middle income one by year 2020.

The Vice-President said the challenges facing the development of the economy were those of poor service delivery, lack of innovativeness and inadequate skilled human resource in the public sector. The management reform programme, therefore, is to develop mission-oriented administrative systems in our public sector institutions with the view to promoting and sustaining a climate of innovation and creativity.

Mr Peter Harrold, World Bank Country Director, assured the government of constant support from the Bank, saying: "as far as we are concerned, this programme will not lack resources until it reaches it logical conclusion".