Government committed to correcting distortions in income policies

Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said on Friday that a lot remained to be done in the financial management of the economy due to the numerous problems created as a result of distortions in income policies.

He said income policies over the years had created a lot of distortions in the pay structure and that it was time to correct it once and for all as highlighted in the 2007 budget statement.

Speaking to regional and district information officers at a sensitisation workshop on the 2007 budget, Mr Baah-Wiredu said the major problem in the salary structure was that of the health sector as against the other sectors.


"For instance, a Community Health Nurse with few years of experience receiving more salary than a Headmaster with long years of experience will definitely create apathy towards service delivery."


He said government had allocated 13.2 trillion cedis for wages as against 11.2 trillion last year to bring workers into their salary positions.

He said the Fair Wages Commission established by government, which had its technical section already working, would ensure that all the anomalies were corrected so that workers received equal pay for work of equal worth from 2007 to 2015.


Mr. Baah-Wiredu said currently 60 per cent of the country's revenue went into wages and salary administration, gratuity and social security yet workers were not receiving the adequate salary for their work.


He said the Fair Wages Commission, which would contract workers rather than employ on permanent basis unless market conditions dictated otherwise, would help remove the distortion and ghost names and ensure that wages go with productivity.

The Minister said the Controller and Accountant General’s Department had done a realignment to ensure that pensioners were also paid at the district levels instead of coming to Accra to receive their gratuity.


Dr Sam Mensah, Financial Advisor, Finance and Economic Planning Ministry said Ghana completed its 23-year contract with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on poverty reduction on October 21, this year adding that she would now borrow directly from the international market to get more funds for projects.

He said the disadvantages with the IMF was that it was difficult to get money in one whole, making it difficult for major investments like dams, in addition to the slow processing and disbursement and the conditions involved.


He said Ghana would however maintain her membership of the IMF and seek for advice on some of her policies. Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Information and National Orientation said the Ministry had received a mandate to employ about 683 workers, five from each district to take care of the 160 cinema vans of the Information Services Department starting January 1, next year.

He urged the officers to ensure that the vans were used to educate the public on government policies through the dissemination of factual information. GNA

Ministry of Health sign Aide Memoir with Development partners

The Minister of Health, Major Courage Quashigah (Rtd) on Friday expressed his frustration with the lack of progress exhibited by development partners, which inhibited improvement in transparency and predictability to their 2007 budget.

He said during the ministry’s annual health summit that, donor commitments by partners were slow in coming and “this makes it difficult to present a complete budget when we faced such situations”.

Major Quashigah expressed these sentiments when the Ministry signed an Aide Memoir with its development partners in Accra. The Aide Memoir was a demonstration of their collective commitment to improving the health of Ghanaians.

He called on development partners to stay focused on strengthening their partnerships, productivity and to promote the pro-poor orientation of the health sector.

Mr. Michael J.P Bierkenes of the Dutch Embassy on behalf of the development partners said the new Memoir would require a new Common Management Arrangement since there had been a change in doing business in development co-operation.

He noted that the coming months were crucial for accelerating development in the health sector and pledged the continuous support of development partners in ensuring the achievement of the objectives of the health sector. GNA

2007 Budget: Complete Document

Main Budget 2007
Budget 2007 Cover
Budget Appendix Tables
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Insurance Bill taken through second reading

Parliament on Friday took the Insurance Bill through a second reading, a stage where the principles of a bill is considered.

The object of the bill is to revise the law relating to insurance in order to make comprehensive provisions for the regulation of the industry.

Nii Adu Daku Mante, Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, presenting the report of the committee, said the bill would ensure the effective administration, supervision, regulation, monitoring and control of the business of insurance to protect the insurance policy holder and the insurance industry.

He however said health Insurance would be provided for under the National Health Insurance Act 2003 (Act 650).

Giving a background to the bill, Nii Daku Mante said the insurance industry is currently being regulated by the Insurance Law, 1989 (PNDCL 227), the Ghana Reinsurance Organisation Law 1984 (PNDCL 78), as well as the Motor Vehicle (Third Party Insurance) Act, 1958 (No. 42) and the Workmen's Compensation Law, 1987 (PNDCL 187).

He said the committee observed that the bill when passed would empower the National Insurance Commission (NIC) to conduct on-site inspection at the premises of insurance companies.

"This would enable the Commission to effectively carry out its policing and watchdog role," Nii Daku Mante added.

He said the committee noted that with the passage of the bill, it would be mandatory for insurers to separate life insurance business from other businesses, adding; "this measure would help forestall the situation where life funds are used for other businesses at the detriment of contributors."GNA

World market will continue to determine ex-pump prices-Minister

The ex-pump prices would continue "to be determined largely by the world prices of crude oil," Mr Kofi Adda, Energy Minister told parliament on Friday.

He said the policy guiding the importation and refining of crude oil was to" maintain import parity and full cost recovery for the petroleum product."

"The deregulation of the sector is to ensure a competitive environment for private sector participation in a liberalized market," he said.

The Minister was responding to a question in parliament on measures being taken to contain ex-pump prices of crude oil in the face of rising cost of oil and petroleum products on the international market.

Mr Adda said improvements in the "efficiency of the refinery operations, the competitive nature of the private sector, as well as the investment priorities of the country will also affect the levels of ex-pump prices."

In answer to another question, the Minster said it was not true that the national grid could not be extended to the Volta Islands communities. "The grid can be extended but it is extremely expensive and relatively more complicated," he said.

The Minister was responding to a question from Mr Francis Osei-Sarfo, NDC-Krachi West, on plans to extend solar lighting systems to the Volta Island communities and places where the national grid could not be extended.

The Minister said the use of solar lighting systems was part of an overall policy of increased use of renewable energy whose implementation was being reviewed to "give strategic support to the traditional sources of power supply in the country."GNA

Limit diplomatic tax exemptions... Dr.Ako Osei

Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, a Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, on Friday called for a limit on tax exemptions granted to public and private institutions. He singled out diplomatic exemptions and said it was contributing significantly to the heavy financial loss on the state.

Dr Osei took on Parliament for also taking in too much exemptions and granting exemptions that were becoming uncomfortable to bear. He said there was nowhere in the world where diplomatic exemptions were without limits.

" In this country, we allow people, including people who make huge sums of money to enjoy exemptions without having to pay required sums stipulated by law."

Dr Osei, NPP-Old Tafo was contributing to a statement by Mr Kwadwo Agyei-Aidoo, the Vice Chairman of the Finance Committee, which sought to make the revenue collection agencies increase their collection base, boost targets and help meet national goals.

The statement also looked at means of simplifying tax payments and to seek how to reduce Ghana's reliance on donor support. He said issues of exemptions and their quantum were gradually taking a heavy toll on government finances and called on Parliament to take immediate action to arrest the situation.

To this Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, NDC Ningo Prampram, rose to ask if exemptions were not granted by and to the Executive and therefore the Deputy Minister's call should be redirected to the Executive for action. But Dr Osei argued that it was not necessarily so.

"Even then, I believe that we need to take a common stand on working to achieve increased domestic revenue mobilization." Earlier, Mr Samuel Sallas-Mensah, NDC-Upper West Akim, said the revenue agencies must work at ensuring that the monies they collected was beyond what they used as operational expenses to cover capital expenses.

He described the withholding tax concept as a lazy man's way of collecting tax and asked the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the agencies to find a better way of raking in funds from people that would make refunds possible.

Mr Sallas-Mensah said the current exercise of collating a national identification system would be in futility if the issue on household numbering were not addressed.

"If this problem is not addressed, the problem of bounced cheques of tax payable by institutions, companies and individuals would remain as the owners cannot be identified."

He said at the begining of each year, the Internal Revenue Service for instance, was expected to raise provisional figures for businesses. "But this is not done. Provisional assessments do not come until as late as August when the state would be in dire need of revenue."

Mr Maxwell Kofi Jumah, NPP-Asokwa, was upbeat about the need for the implementation of the house numbering scheme that he stressed was vital for the success of the national identification project.

He said with the advent of information technology, people's homes and addresses could be found at the click of a button and urged the authorities to wake up to it.

Mr Lee Ocran, NDC-Jomoro, called on government to simplify tax processes and procedures to make tax collection less cumbersome and attractive to all. "We must make the tax forms and other documentation such as registration processes simple and not a form of punishment."

On the argument that tax registration was cumbersome and should be simplified, Dr Osei urged the house to avoid oversimplifying the tax collection and registrations process since it had the potential of opening the system to abuse.GNA

NDC supporters urged to work harder to win back power

The General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress Party (NDC), Mr Joseph Asiedu-Nketiah has appealed to supporters of the party to continue working harder to win the 2008 general elections.

Mr. Asiedu-Nketiah made the appeal at the Second General Meeting of the University of Education, Winneba branch of the Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC at Winneba.

It was under the theme, "The role of the youth in sustaining multi-party democracy in Ghana" and was attended by a large number of party members. The Member of Parliament for Tamale South constituency, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said the NPP government's bad governance had brought hardship to Ghanaians.


He said the NPP government had nothing good for Ghanaians and urged them to vote the party out of power and replace it with the NDC. Mr. Samuel Yaw Sukah, President of the branch, appealed to the party to incorporate the TEIN in the organizational structure of the party's activities.

He urged supporters of the party to remain united and committed in the wake of false media reports and propaganda being waged against the party.GNA