A Petroleum Revenue Management Bill is being drafted by the government to ensure the prudent use of the expected revenue from the oil and gas sector, President John Evans Atta Mills has announced. He said the proposed bill was to ensure that the revenue generated from oil and gas was channelled into addressing the development challenges of the country, adding, "We want to use national resources judiciously." Speaking at the opening of a two-day Economic Conferences Second Business roundtable in Accra Monday, President Mills said he had directed the Ministries of Energy and Trade and Industry to draft the bill for approval by Cabinet and possible enactment into law by Parliament. The conference, organised by the Economist Group (publishers of The Economist), provides the opportunity for international and local economic experts to engage the government on the direction of the country's economy. The Economic Conferences, a division of the Economist Intelligence Unit, is the leading provider of international forums for senior executives seeking new insights into strategic issues. Issues being discussed at the conference are, 'Managing the impact of the global recession', 'Setting priorities for Ghana', 'What will the government do to stimulate the economy?' and 'Should the government protect Ghanaian industries?'. Others are, 'Tackling corruption and vested interests - how high on the agenda?', 'Managing revenue inf1ows from the emerging oil sector', 'Moving away from reliance on aid' and 'What is the government doing t6 maintain investor confidence?'. President Mills said several people had expressed concern over whether or not the discovery of oil would be a curse or a blessing for the country. He said the government was "learning from the lessons" of oil-producing African countries and that it was committed not to go that way. "I assure you that we want the oil and gas to be a blessing rather than a curse," he stressed. The President said the government was also formulating policies to strengthen the capacity of local companies to participate in the downstream oil and gas sector. “We will give domestic companies the capacity to grow and create jobs. We do not want domestic companies to be crippled by .unfair trade by foreign companies," he noted. President Mills said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government inherited an economy which was not in a good shape and which was characterised by a high budget deficit and indicated that the government was currently working within a budget deficit of 15 per cent for now. Besides, he said, there were several outstanding debts to be paid to contractors and that the government was compelled, under the circumstances, to make payments to businesses and banks, at the expense of new contracts. He said the government had to collate data and evaluate the situation to get the true picture of the economy and indicated that it had taken steps to ensure that the economy stayed on track. He said the government was still committed to attaining a middle-income status for the country and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). President Mills said the government, given its social democratic ideals, was committed to creating an enabling environment for the private sector to operate and grow, since the sector was an important organ in national development. He said the government would give the necessary incentives, review tax regimes and tax incentives to encourage the growth of the private sector but indicated that it would not want the tax base to be eroded to the disadvantage of local companies. Besides, he said, the government would not "bend the rules" for any private sector business, harass or interfere with the work of any private sector operative. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank, Mr Jim Ovia, commended the government for encouraging the growth of the private sector in the country. He said he was impressed by the government's agenda of liberalising the banking sector, which had created an enabling environment for the establishment of an increasing number of Nigerian banks in Ghana, a development which had contributed about $300 million to the economy within the past five years. He mentioned the growth of the telecommunications sector, which had significantly increased Ghana's teledensity and positioned it as one of the fastest growing countries in telecommunication penetration, as another example of the government's development agenda. The West Africa "Vice-President of Total, Mr Stanisla Mittelman, called for a "clear" legal and regulatory framework for petroleum and trade in the country to facilitate the way of doing business. He expressed concern over the depreciation of the cedi and called for effective measures to arrest the situation. The Chairperson for the conference, Ms Pat Thaker, said investors wanted to be assured that their investments would continue even when the country started producing oil in commercial quantities. Source: Daily Guide