BUDGET: 36.8m cedis voted for Election 2008

Accra, Nov. 15, GNA - The Government has voted 36.8 million Ghana cedis for the country's fifth presidential and parliamentary elections next year, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, announced on Thursday.

Presenting the 2008 Budget statement to Parliament, he said the Government was aware of the challenges of an election year, like budgetary overruns, and, therefore, would ensure a sound fiscal discipline.

He said: "We are determined to exercise the necessary fiscal discipline and prudence as we did in 2004 to ensure that we do not derail our hard work and accomplishments of the past seven years. "The primary policy focus for the year will be to maintain the strong fiscal discipline and resilient macroeconomic environment because prospects for economic growth are bright." Come December 2008 the country would organise its fifth presidential and parliamentary elections under the Fourth Republican Constitution with the major political parties being the New Patriotic Party; National Democratic Congress; Convention People's Party and People's National Convention.

In the forward to the Budget, President John Agyekum Kufuor pledged the Government's commitment to ensuring the conduct of a free, fair and peaceful election.

He said Election 2004 was conducted in such an atmosphere to the admiration of the world, adding, "I am, therefore, appealing to the entire nation, including all the political parties and other stakeholders to resolve to make next year's election violence-free and credible".

On oil management, Mr Baah-Wiredu said the discovery of oil had generated a lot of excitement and expectations both within and outside the country and for good reasons too.

"We believe that the prospects for any country as regard the discovery of oil in commercial quantities are mixed. "We want to believe that the oil that has been discovered off the shores of Ghana will be for our good and not for evil; to provide us with the kind of future that we expect for ourselves and for the generations to come." The Minister said the Government was preparing for the establishment of the appropriate regulatory and institutional framework to ensure that it maximised the expected output from the resource.