President demands inventory on loans and grants

Dr Paa Kwesi Ndoum, Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Co-operation, on Tuesday said the President has demanded an inter-ministerial committee to be set up to collect inventory of all loans and grants available and on offer to the country.

"The president has directed me to set up and chair an inter-ministerial committee to complete modalities on how to collect inventory on loans and grants available to the country and those on offer which are yet to be negotiated," he said.

This is to guarantee judicious application of resources available to the government in a collaborative manner, with the view to channelling resources into more pressing areas of the economy to ensure maximum benefit from resources available to the country.

Dr Ndoum was opening of a day's interactive workshop on creating and sustaining industrial peace, jointly organised by the Ministry of Employment and Manpower Development and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in Accra.

The exercise is to be completed by the middle of October, Dr Ndoum said and added that at the moment, about one billion US dollars is available to the country in the form of loans and grants.

"We are also aware of several loan and grant offers to the country which are yet to be negotiated.

"Some of these funds were requested by the previous government for specific purposes which we believe are currently not pressing enough."

Dr. Ndoum said the government has therefore decided to redirect some of the loans and grants into poverty reduction, job creation and self-sufficiency ventures, with the view to providing good compensation and decent living for the people.

This would help increase the general level of prosperity in the country, which is necessary to reduce industrial actions.

Dr Ndoum said a careful analysis of the economy shows that with the current GDP growth rate of between three and four per cent, prosperity is an illusion. "We need at least 10 to 12 per cent growth rate to achieve general prosperity. We cannot continue to depend on government jobs and cocoa exports to reach that kind of growth rate and prosperity.

"It must take extraordinary effort to grow beyond the seven per cent GDP growth rate target and achieve such extraordinary but necessary goal."

Mrs. Cecilia Bannerman, Minister of Manpower Development and Employment said despite concrete effort by social partners in the labour sector and legislation to ensure industrial peace, it remains a fact that strike actions are still rampant.

She said strikes have had adverse effects on labour, industry and the economy as a whole and on the reputation of the country as a safe investment destination.

"It is regrettable that from the period 1997 to 2000, 152 strike actions were recorded at the industrial front...involving 12,314 workers, resulting in the loss of 70,557 man-days.

"Between January and August this year, 22 strike actions have already been recorded, involving 12,830 workers with over 39,261 man-days lost.