Parliament on Tuesday approved the 2012 budget statement and economic policy of the government after concluding the debate on the motion moved in the House on November 16 by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor. The debate, which ended on a lively note when the Speaker, Joyce Bamford- Addo put the question for the approval or otherwise of the budget, was also characterised by arguments between Dr Duffuor and Dr Anthony Akoto Osei (NPP-Old Tafo) over some budgetary provisions and the country's debt stock. In winding up the debate, Dr Duffuor noted, "Madam Speaker, I sincerely thank the honourable members for the lively debate, comments and contributions which I find interesting and beneficial." He said the government inherited an economy in an ‘Intensive Care Unit’, saying: “we treated the patient and now the patient is running very fast," attracting shouts of "hear hear!!" from the majority caucus and resentment from the minority caucus. The House will now consider the various sectoral estimates for the approval of the Appropriation Bill to authorise government expenditure for the 2012 fiscal. In their contribution to the motion, the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu (NPP-Suame, noted that the 2012 budget was “founded on poorly organised and unreliable budget documentation” with Mr. Avoka counteracting that the Minority Caucus only criticised the budget without offering alternatives and "only give a dog a bad name to hang it." Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the International Monetary Fund world economic outlook for 2011 in respect of developing , countries including Ghana and in particular for sub-Saharan Africa, indicated that growth prospects was going to be very resilient for 2011 and 2012 propelled by high commodity prices and in the case of Ghana by cocoa, gold 1 and oil. “The resilience [with] which the minister spoke about [the economy] is not as a result of his prudent management, not any magic from him or from the so called ‘Better Ghana’ mantra," he said. The Minority Leader commended government's efforts on the removal of schools under trees with the provision of infrastructure but noted that it had not translated into improved school performance at the Basic Education School Certificate (BECE), adding that performance had been going down from 2009. Underscoring the need for decentralisation and composite budgeting, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noted the Auditor-General's report had demonstrated that serious capacity challenges and bottlenecks at the various assemblies led to massive corruption. "For this reason, decentralisation should be complemented with adequate counterbalancing structures and above all, with adequate oversight and accountability measures to ensure that the process of decentralisation particularly, fiscal decentralisation, is managed optimally and guarantee equitable access to services." Touching on next year's general election, the Minority Leader questioned whether the government had made provision in the budget in case there is a re-run of the 2012 election, noting: "Let us remember that it may be possible to have a re-run of the presidential election, have we provided for that?" Mr Avoka said the budget statement had been “so well crafted that it has won the admiration of all meaning Ghanaians including economic think tanks like the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the [larger] business community". He said the budget was not just an ambitious one, but one that was realistic and dedicated to ensuring a smooth economic growth of the country, adding that “even though 2012 is an election year, the government will be disciplined to chart the course without destabilising the economy". Mr Avoka added the government would ensure that workers got their due share so they could be motivated to increase productivity. He appealed to workers not yet migrated onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) to follow the due processes and cooperate with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) for a smooth migration. The Majority Leader noted that many conflicts in Africa and the world over emanated from elections and assured that “Government has taken a que from this and has decided to provide the Electoral Commission with good funding within the constraints of our economy to ensure a free and fair election in2012.”