Ghana can still attain the seven per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) target at the end of the year, in spite of increases in the price of rude oil on the world market.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, who gave this assurance in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the prudent micro and macroeconomic policies of the government, coupled with the efficient management of the economy, had been able to cushion the shocks of the increases in the prices of crude oil and food.

Besides, he said the five-prong initiative announced by the President which sought to mitigate the hardships on Ghanaians in the wake of escalating food and fuel prices had also contributed to stabilise the economy.

The initiatives include a reduction in import duties on major food items and the waiver of levies on some petroleum products.

Food items that have benefited from the reduction in import duties include rice, wheat, yellow corn and vegetable oil.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said the government was poised to raise revenue to support the economy, saying, for instance, that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service should be able to generate enough revenue from corporate bodies.

The minister said another challenge was for the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) to dispose off or feited vehicles and containers at the Tema Port.

That, he said, was another way of generating revenue to support the economy.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said the government would further encourage the exportation of non-traditional exports.

According to him, the introduction of the e-zwich payment cards would improve efficiency in payment systems and reduce waste in salaries.

He admitted that the increases in the price of crude oil and food had shot up costs, making the government to spend more than what had been anticipated in the budget.

He said the resilience of the economy was evident in the way people were not complaining of food shortage or hunger, as pertained in other African countries.

Besides, workers still received their salaries and were able to sustain themselves.

"If the economy is not good, you will see workers demonstrating, as is happening in other countries. But we do not see that here," he stressed.

[Over the past two years] The nation's crude oil import bill has risen from $500 million in 2005 to $2.1 billion at the end of 2007 and it is gravitating towards $2.5 billion for the same quantity of oil.

In November 2007 the current budget was prepared on an estimated crude oil price of $85 per barrel but within the first quarter of 2008 alone the estimate had gone beyond $125 per banel and now it is hovering around $135 per barrel. There are even projections that the price may hit $200 before the end of the year.


Source: Daily Graphic