Gov’t to design new medium-term plan

Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Seth Terkper says government will develop a new medium-term plan to realize the nation’s developmental objectives over the next few years.

The new plan, he said, will be anchored on macro-economic stability and promote private-sector competitiveness, modernize agriculture, develop infrastructure, and ensure transparent and accountable governancnce.

The current medium-term plan, the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA), which started from 2010 expires in 2013 and will be succeeded by the new plan to be developed.

The GSGDA is successor to the growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II), which covered the period 2006-2009 and was linked to Ghana’s debt –forgiveness programme with external creditors.

Addressing Chief Executive Officers and business elites at the Ghana Economic Forum (GEF) 2013 in Accra, Mr. Terkper highlighted the changing structure of the economy and growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) as key drivers that will propel the country forward.

Concerns have however been raised about the country’s inability to develop and implement a national long-term strategic plan that will guide the development process over at least a decade. The long-term plan, according to its promoters, must be adopted and mainstreamed into all sectoral strategies and implemented by successive governments.

Speaking under the theme “the Role of Leadership in Driving National Economic Prosperity,” Mr. Terkper said government will make a conscious effort to correct the many forms of inefficiency in management of the country’s public institutions.

He said the public sector can draw useful lessons from the private sector, where management systems are more effective and efficient. “The government’s focus now is to diversify the economy in order to avoid contracting the Dutch Disease,” he said.

He proposed the creation of an infrastructure fund, using oil revenue, to accelerate economic development – adding that it is time government assesses the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to evaluate its benefits.

Commenting on the growth in the GDP, Mr. Terkper said the country, with its current middle-income status, has more access to capital and expressed government’s resolve to partner the private sector to create a congenial atmosphere for businesses to thrive.

The minister of State in charge of Private-Public Partnerships, Alhaji Rashid Pulpuo, assured the private sector of government’s commitment to partner in it the provision of public goods.

He said partnering the private sector will create the necessary environment to conduct business with ease, adding that government is working on a public-sector partnership strategy to foster a closer working relationship with the private sector.