Accra, Oct 20, GNA - West African Countries should initiate concrete actions to improve trading among themselves to enable them to enjoy the full benefits of a single currency, Finance Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo said on Monday.
He said corruption at border posts and non-adherence to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) protocols were frustrating market expansion for the private sector and companies and making it difficult for the Sub-Region to attract foreign direct investment.
The Minister, therefore, called for reconfirmation of commitment of member countries to the protocols to enhance trade and facilitate the free movement of goods and services across the Sub-Regional frontiers. Mr Osafo-Maafo was speaking at the second Finance Ministers Forum of the West African Monetary Zone in Accra.
The forum would examine the progress made by member countries of the second monetary zone towards the attainment of the conditions set out in the convergence criteria for the establishment of the zone in July 2005. The criteria include a reduction in government's deficit financing of the budget to 10 per cent, foreign exchange reserves equivalent to three months of imports and single digit inflation.
Mr Osafo-Maafo asked member countries to step up efforts to ensure that once the criteria are met, they became sustainable to avoid the pitfall of going back to work on the same conditions all over again. "As we strive to achieve the targets of our primary convergence criteria, let us not lose sight of the other aspects of monetary integration, which must be dealt with in tandem with our struggle to achieve convergence," he said.
He said excessive borrowing of governments from the Central Bank remained a major challenge that must be overcome if members were to meet the July 2005 deadline for bringing the zone into life.
Mr Osafo-Maafo called for the pursuit of prudent fiscal policies to break the barrier of fiscal dominance, especially in the face of provision of basic social infrastructure that inevitably put governments in the trap to spend more than it had generated to support such projects.
"It is important as managers of our respective economies to influence our peers and our bosses to prioritise these needs. Without prioritisation, we are likely to over-borrow from the Central Bank to finance the social sector resulting in our crowding the private sector out in accessing credit from the banking sector."
Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister for Regional Cooperation and New Economic Partnership For African Development (NEPAD), said the failure of the World Trade Organisation to enhance multilateral trade made it imperative for countries in Africa to improve intra-regional trade. He said non-convertibility of currency was a major affront to trade and added that a single currency would provide the foundation for the countries in the Sub-Region to trade with one another.
