Accra, Dec. 15, GNA - Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Regional Cooperation and NEPAD has called for a realistic action plan to facilitate the tariff harmonisation negotiations between ECOWAS and the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA).
He also encouraged greater collaboration between UEMOA and ECOWAS in order to enhance coordination between the two institutions to ensure the smooth implementation of programmes.
Dr Apraku was speaking at the opening of the 51st ECOWAS Council of Ministers session in Accra on Monday. He suggested the establishment of an appropriate compensatory mechanism to offset the loss of revenue arising from the implementation of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS). The Minister who is the Chairman of the Council stressed the need to sensitise the private sector and citizens of ECOWAS members states on the Single Monetary Zone concept and commended the five members countries which formed the second West Africa Monetary Zone for pursuing vigorous sensitisation programmes in earnest. The countries were: Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The two-day meeting of the Council, preceding the 27th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS scheduled for December 19 to elect its chairman would consider the annual report of the Executive Secretary, the report on the status of ratification of the ECOWAS revised treaty, Protocols and Conventions.
The Council would also consider memoranda on the implementation of NEPAD, the eradication of polio in ECOWAS member states, and the terms of reference for a proposed study on the enhancement of powers and privileges of the ECOWAS Parliament and the direct elections of its Members.
Dr Apraku reminded member states of their commitment to adopt a common currency, which enjoined them to instil financial discipline in the management of their economies in order to meet the convergence criteria to ensure a stable macro-economy for each member state of the zone.
He said progress towards convergence during the first nine months of 2003 deteriorated considerably compared to the first half of 2003. Dr Apraku said all the five states taken together slipped from a score of 65 per cent as at end June 2003 to 35 per cent at the end of September with respect to meeting the target set under the criteria. This, he said, was the lowest performance since the commencement of the WAMZ convergence process in 2000 and emphasised the need for hard work to enable members achieve the targets by the end of 2005. Regional leaders agreed during their 2000 Summit in Bamako to adopt the Common External Tariff (CET) rates operated by the eight countries of the UEMOA.
The UEMOA CET, which was introduced in January 2000, varied between 0 and 20 per cent. At a Summit held in Conakry in November 2002, Heads of State of the five countries decided to defer the introduction of the currency from January 2003 to July 2005 to enable the States satisfy the criteria set for its introduction. Dr Apraku said despite the poor performance by the member countries, Ghana had been able to achieve three out of the four primary criteria. They were; budget deficit as against Gross Domestic Product ratio which should be less than or equal to four per cent, Central Bank financing of the budget deficit in relation to the previous year's tax revenue that was equal to 10 per cent and three months reserves as import covers. Dr Apraku said Ghana was yet to attain the single digit inflation threshold, and encouraged other countries to intensify surveillance programmes and plans to harmonise macro-economic policies as well as make greater efforts at economic information sharing within the Monetary Zone.
Dr Apraku emphasised the need for intra-community trade among ECOWAS member states and the elimination of all bottlenecks adding "we need to re-double effort to encourage greater inter-ministerial collaboration and greater commitment to regional cooperation and integration."
Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Executive Secretary of ECOWAS commended Ghana's President John Agyekum Kufuor Chairman of ECOWAS for the hospitality and good leadership qualities that he had exhibited during his tenure, which ends on December 19.
He also praised other Heads of States and Governments for their eminent contribution towards the Union and called for their continuous support.
Anti-war placard bearing youth greeted the dignitaries as they enter the Accra International Conference Centre, venue for the conference with slogans such as; "Weapons fuel domestic violence, control arms," "Niger oil is honey and Milk, small arms blood and tears," "ECOWAS say farewell to arms, welcome to NEPAD and Give us food and education not arms."
The West African Action Network for Small Arms (WAANSA) secretariat in Ghana organised the demonstration also mounted an exhibition on smalls and its impact of society at the conference grounds.
Dr Apraku reminded member states of their commitment to adopt a common currency, which enjoined them to instil financial discipline in the management of their economies in order to meet the convergence criteria to ensure a stable macro-economy for each member state of the zone.
He said progress towards convergence during the first nine months of 2003 deteriorated considerably compared to the first half of 2003. Dr Apraku said all the five states taken together slipped from a score of 65 per cent as at end June 2003 to 35 per cent at the end of September with respect to meeting the target set under the criteria. This, he said, was the lowest performance since the commencement of the WAMZ convergence process in 2000 and emphasised the need for hard work to enable members achieve the targets by the end of 2005. Regional leaders agreed during their 2000 Summit in Bamako to adopt the Common External Tariff (CET) rates operated by the eight countries of the UEMOA.
The UEMOA CET, which was introduced in January 2000, varied between 0 and 20 per cent. At a Summit held in Conakry in November 2002, Heads of State of the five countries decided to defer the introduction of the currency from January 2003 to July 2005 to enable the States satisfy the criteria set for its introduction. Dr Apraku said despite the poor performance by the member countries, Ghana had been able to achieve three out of the four primary criteria. They were; budget deficit as against Gross Domestic Product ratio which should be less than or equal to four per cent, Central Bank financing of the budget deficit in relation to the previous year's tax revenue that was equal to 10 per cent and three months reserves as import covers. Dr Apraku said Ghana was yet to attain the single digit inflation threshold, and encouraged other countries to intensify surveillance programmes and plans to harmonise macro-economic policies as well as make greater efforts at economic information sharing within the Monetary Zone.
Dr Apraku emphasised the need for intra-community trade among ECOWAS member states and the elimination of all bottlenecks adding "we need to re-double effort to encourage greater inter-ministerial collaboration and greater commitment to regional cooperation and integration."
Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Executive Secretary of ECOWAS commended Ghana's President John Agyekum Kufuor Chairman of ECOWAS for the hospitality and good leadership qualities that he had exhibited during his tenure, which ends on December 19.
He also praised other Heads of States and Governments for their eminent contribution towards the Union and called for their continuous support.
Anti-war placard bearing youth greeted the dignitaries as they enter the Accra International Conference Centre, venue for the conference with slogans such as; "Weapons fuel domestic violence, control arms," "Niger oil is honey and Milk, small arms blood and tears," "ECOWAS say farewell to arms, welcome to NEPAD and Give us food and education not arms."
The West African Action Network for Small Arms (WAANSA) secretariat in Ghana organised the demonstration also mounted an exhibition on smalls and its impact of society at the conference grounds. 15 Dec. 03
