Debates of 19 Nov 2013

At the Commencement of Public Business -- Hon Majority Leader --

Mr Speaker, with your indulgence, I would want us to take item 6.

Mr Speaker, I thought we would take item 5 because today is the last day for the Legislative Instrument (L.I.) to pass. The Report is ready; it has been distributed to Hon Members.

Mr Speaker, it is just the order in which we are taking the items. I have not indicated that we are discounting item 5. But there are still some further consultations that we ought to do in re- lation to item 5, so the matter will come under consideration after we have had discussions.

Hon Members, my at- tention has been drawn to the fact that, the Hon Minister for Finance who will move

the Motion, item number 6 on the Order Paper is around. Maybe, they want us to go straight to item number 6 before coming to item 5. But it is for the House to decide.

Mr Speaker, if the House is minded to take item numbered 5, that is, the Motion --If we are minded to take it today, then I think a better order would be to take it and maybe allow a few contributions. I say so because, I hear it is not controversial and we can deal with it.
Mr Speaker, if his argument is that, the Hon Minister for Finance is in the House, we should not be doing his bidding.

Hon Members, this is a Legislative Instrument. Today, it has to pass after 21 Sitting days. I have had the privilege of looking at the Committee's Report which recommends its passage. If it had recommended annulment, my at- titude would have been different. Whether the Motion is taken or not, it is of no moment, it would become law after today.
The Motion that is being moved is only for an academic purpose, really. I have looked at the recommendation and the conclusion of the Committee's Report, notwithstanding that, as I have said, if you would want us to take it, then I will let it be moved now and I hear the Hon Ranking Member speak. I will then put the Question, so that, we can move to the main item for today. Let the Hon Chair- man move the Motion. We move to item number 6 as a compromised position.

Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House adopts the Report of the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation on the Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2013 (L.I. 2204).
In doing so, I present the Report of the committee.
Introduction
The Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2013 (L.I. 2204) was laid before Parliament on Friday, 12th July, 2013 and referred to the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation for consideration and report to the House in accordance with article 11(7) of the 1992 Constitution and Orders 77, 166 and 167 of the Standing Orders of the House.
The Committee held a number of meetings to consider the Legislative In- strument. This includes a meeting with the Ghana Exploration and Production Forum; an Association of Private Sector Upstream Oil and Gas companies operat- ing in Ghana.
The Committee subsequently held a meeting with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum led by the Hon Minister, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah as well as the legal, technical and administrative heads of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Petroleum Commission. The Hon Deputy Attor- ney- General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine also led a team from the Ministry of Justice which included the head of Legislative Drafting to attend upon the Committee. Reference
The Committee referred to the fol- lowing laws and documents during its
deliberations:
i. The 1992 Constitution.
ii. The Standing Orders of Parlia- ment.
iii. The Petroleum Commission Act, 2011 (Act 821).
iv. The Petroleum (Exploration and production) Act, 1984 (Act 84).
Background
In 2007, Ghana discovered oil in com- mercial quantities in deep water offshore. Prior to the discovery, the Petroleum (Ex- ploration and Production) Act, 1984 (Act 84) had been promulgated to provide for the exploration, development and produc- tion of Petroleum, among others.
Under section 23 of Act 84, a contractor or subcontractor is obliged to provide op- portunities for the employment of citizens having requisite expertise or qualifications at the various levels of operations. A con- tractor or subcontractor is also required to use goods and services produced in or provided by Ghana for the operations in preference to foreign goods and services.
Further to this, a contractor or subcon- tractor is obliged to initiate and implement plans and programmes for training citizens in the various job classifications and in any other aspect of petroleum operations.
A contractor is also required under Act 84 to initiate and implement plans for the transfer of advanced technological know- how and skills relating to petroleum op- erations to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
The Petroleum Commission Act, 2011 (Act 821) which came into force after the discovery of oil in commercial quantities

in 2007, requires the Commission to pro- mote local content and local participation in petroleum activities as prescribed in the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act, 1984 (Act 84) and other applicable laws and regulations to strengthen national development.

Pursuant to the establishment of the Petroleum Commission, the Minister re- sponsible for Energy is authorised under section 22 of Act 821 on the advice of the Board and by Legislative Instrument, to make Regulations for the exploration, development and appraisal of petroleum and related operations.

Purpose of Regulations

The purpose of the Regulations include the promotion of the maximization of val- ue addition and job creation through the use of local expertise, goods and services, businesses and financing in the petroleum industry value chain and their retention in Ghana.

It is also to develop local capacities in the petroleum industry value chain, achieve the minimum local employment level and in-country spending, increase the capability and international competiveness of domestic businesses, and to create pe- troleum and related supportive industries to sustain Ghana's economic development.

The Regulations aim at providing a transparent monitoring system to meet the objectives of the Government's local content policy.

The Regulations also provide that entities in the petroleum industry must submit their local content plans for their compliance with the local content stand- ards regarding the provision of goods and services, the transfer to GNPC or the Petroleum Commission and Ghanaians of advanced technology and skills related to petroleum activities and their recruitment and training programme as stipulated in

the First Schedule.

Observations

The Committee observed that, private companies in the upstream oil and gas sector operating in Ghana, represented by the Ghana Exploration and Production Forum (Forum), had reservations about certain aspects and provisions of the Regulations, in spite of the fact that they appreciated the benefits of local content strategies to Ghana and International Oil Companies (IOC).

The Forum is particularly opposed to Regulation 4 (4) which gives excessive discretionary powers to the Minister for Energy and Petroleum and the Petroleum Commission to determine the persons qualified to enter into a petroleum agree- ment or a petroleum licence.

The Forum also raised concerns about the alleged protectionist approach adopted in the Regulations which is incompatible with World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements and other Bilateral Invest- ment Treaties (BITs) to which Ghana is a signatory.

They indicated that Article III: 4 of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Invest- ment Measures (TRIMs) provides that

“the products of the territory of any contracting party imported into the territory of any other contracting party shall be accorded treatment no less favourable than that accorded to like products of national origin in respect of all laws, regulations and requirements affecting their internal sale, offering for sale, purchase, transportation, distribution or use.”

The Forum in their presentation to the Committee also expressed reservations about Regulation 48 which provides that

“within three months after the com- mencement of these Regu- lations, a

contractor or subcon- tractor, licen- see, or other allied entity engaged in a petroleum activity shall comply with these Regulations.”

They regard this provision as a uni- lateral amendment of existing Petroleum Agreements and a breach of the 1992 Constitution which frowns on retroactive legislation.

The Forum further raised concerns with Regulation 46 which provides for offences and penalties. According to them, the pro- posed fines and sentences are a unilateral variation of the companies' rights under existing Petroleum Agreements.

The Committee took note of the fact that, the discretionary powers given to the Minister responsible for Energy and Petroleum under Regulation 4 (4) are to be exercised in accordance with article 296 of the 1992 Constitution which requires any authority vested with discretionary power to be fair and candid.

In the exercise of the said discretionary power, the authority should not be arbi- trary, capricious, biased and shall operate in accordance with due process of the law. Consequently, it is imperative to establish guidelines which would serve as a guide to the Minister in the application of Reg- ulation 4 (4).

The Committee also took note of the fact that, article 107(b) of the Constitu- tion is clear and unambiguous, and the Regulations does not in any way, indicate that the law is to operate retrospectively to impose any limitations, burden, obliga- tion, liability or adversely affect the rights of the said companies.

The Committee further took note that, there are no indications or references to specific provisions in the Regulations

which are inconsistent with Ghana's undertakings under WTO treaties, the Agreement on Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) and the General Agree- ment on Trade and Services (GATS). The said companies have every right to pursue avenues for redress if they strongly believe that their accrued rights under the Petrole- um Agreements (PAs) have been affected.

The Committee observed that, the pen- alties prescribed for the offences stipulated in Regulation 46 does not contravene any legal or constitutional provisions. The rights provided under the Petroleum Agreements of the said companies do not guarantee their immunity from penalties to offences such as knowingly making a false statement, connivance or fronting.

The Committee again observed that for the local content policy to be effective and successful, the Government should invest in the training of technical and managerial personnel. The Government should also provide incentives for research and de- velopment within Ghana while the local sector should be adequately resourced to enhance funding.

The Committee further observed that the Petroleum Commission is mandated under the Regulations to establish and constantly review guidelines and proce- dures for the effective implemen-tation of Law. The Commission is also mandated to monitor, investigate and ensure the achievement of the purpose of the Regula- tions within the framework of the national policy on local content. The role of the Commission is therefore crucial in the effective and efficient implemen- tation of the Regulations.

Conclusion

The Committee has carefully examined

the Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2013 (L.I. 2204) and is of the considered view that,

the Legislative Instrument does not con- travene the provisions of the Constitution and Order 166 (3) of the Standing Orders of the House which served as a reference guide to the Committee.

The Committee accordingly recom- mends to the House that the Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulations, 2013 (L.I. 2204) should come into force at the expiration of twenty-one Sitting days as provided for under article 11(7) (c) of the 1992 Constitution.

Respectfully submitted.

Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion ably moved by the Hon Chairman of the Committee. In seconding the Motion, Mr Speaker, I would want to make a few observations.
Firstly, let me say that, this is not the first time the issue of local content and local participation is being channelled in Ghana. As far back as 1983, when we passed the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Law, Act 64 -- [In- terruption.] PNDC Law 64 -- It is now Act 64 -- [Interruption]-- Mr Speaker, Act 64 or PNDC Law 64, there were pro- visions under that Law for local content.
Similarly, when the Petroleum Com- mission Act was passed in 1984, PNDC Law 84 or Act 84, as the Hon Chairman described, there were provisions for local content. So, when we passed Act 821, there was a Regulation that the Hon Min- ister, on the advice of the Board should make Regulations to expand the good governance of local content and local participation. Mr Speaker, it is in this spirit that this Legislative Instrument (L.I.) is being made.

Hon Member, do you have a point of order?

Yes, Mr Speaker.

Quote the Order for me before you make your submission [Laughter.]

Mr Speaker, this is the Order of the “three wise men”. [Laughter.]

Hon Member, you are out of order. Resume your seat.

Mr Speaker, I am submit- ting that the current L.I. is in conformity with article 11(7) of the Constitution and Regulation 166 of our Standing Orders.
Mr Speaker, if we are able to implement this L.I. to the letter and spirit of the doc- ument, then it would become a win-win situation for the foreigners operating in the oil industry as well as the local participants and Ghana at large.
Mr Speaker, when we passed the Petro- leum Revenue Management Law, it was hailed globally as one of the best laws in terms of transparency and accoun- tabil- ity. In the same vein, if this L.I. comes into effect, it would strengthen the good governance position of this country. It is in this respect, that I urge Hon Members to support the Motion moved by the Hon
Chairman and allow the L.I. to come into effect at the expiration of 21 Sitting days.
However, let me sound this caution. The tendency for some Ghanaians or some of us to take advantage of a legislation or a facility and go to sleep is there. So, we would want to caution that those local par- ticipants or those who are going to benefit from the local content must endeavour to live up to expectation, otherwise, I would say it is good passing a good law, but the implementation must also be well done.
It is in this vein, that Government must support the Petroleum Commission to be able to build capacity and provide the necessary training for Ghanaians to participate in this industry.
Question proposed.

Hon Members, I have decided to take one contribution from each side then I would put the Question.

Mr Speaker, I associate myself with the Report of the Committee, but would like to add that, because of the obligations imposed on the Petroleum Commission to ensure enforcement of this Legislative Instrument (L.I.), if that capac- ity is not adequately built up, we would experience what has happened to many other pieces of legislation and Rules and Regulations passed; in that, it is obeyed more in its breach than in its observance.
The Government also has to adequately finance the Commission and build up the capacity of its members to be able to do the work that we are imposing on them, so I suggest the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) should be tasked
to provide some support to the Commis- sion. The Commission should also not let bureaucracy frustrate its purposes. The discretionary power of the Minister should also be exercised with the view to ensuring that, the people of this country benefit from the Regulations that are being passed today.
Mr Speaker, we need a lot of commit- ment from Government to make these Regulations work. We need the Hon Min- ister responsible to also undertake this task with the national interest at heart. This is not to suggest that he would not; this is just to urge upon him to make sure that the L.I. is adequately published so that competent Ghanaians who would be willing to take advantage of its provisions would know of its existence and the opportunities availa- ble and take advantage of the opportunities given to them.
This will not make it monopolized by a few wealthy businessmen who would also form a monopoly and frustrate the intent of the Regulations.
With these few words I support the Report of the Committee.

Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, today, we as Ghanaians have moved one step from the back of the oil and gas industry bus, to the front seat; and we are getting closer to take the destiny of the industry into our hands. This Legislative Instrument L.I. really empowers the people of Ghana in a really big way.
But Mr Speaker, let me quickly address two of the concerns that have been raised and give assurance on the discretion of the Hon Minister.
Mr Speaker, the discretion of the Min- ister to vary the minimum local content level, is to be exercised first in consul- tation with the Petroleum Commission. Also, the discretion would be exercised in accordance with the Article 296 of the Constitution.

Hon Members, that brings us to the end of the debate.
Question put and Motion agreed to.

Mr Speaker, we can now take item 6, with your indulgence.

Item 6 -- Minister for Finance.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister for Finance would be with us shortly -- [Uproar] -- because the item
was not taken initially. He is at the Clerks- at-the-Table's Lobby.

Item numbered 6, Min- ister for Finance.

Mr Speaker, I beg to move, that this Honourable House approves the Financial Policy of the Government of Ghana for the year ending 31st December,
2014.
Section One: Introduction
2. Mr Speaker, on behalf of His Excel- lency, John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana and in accord- ance with article 179 of the 1992 Consti- tution, permit me to present the Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the year 2014 to this august House.
3. Mr Speaker, in March this year, I presented the 2013 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government to this august House. The election petition case was still ongoing at the time there- fore, we must be grateful for the lifting of the cloud of economic uncertainty that came with the decision which reaffirmed H.E. President John Dramani Mahama as the validly elected President of the Republic of Ghana. His Excellency, the President, has since led many to compli- ment Ghanaians for making our democ- racy stronger.
4. The 2013 Budget was based on the Ghana Shared Growth and Development
Agenda (GSGDA: 2010-13) which lapses this year. The successor plan, for the next term (GSGDA II: 2014-17) is being final- ized and will incorporate a medium-term vision and strategy for the country.
5. In the 2013 Budget, one of the pri- mary objectives of government was to deal with the high budget deficit caused by overruns that were highlighted in specific detail and explained to the House and the nation. While proposing solutions to tackle the causes of the overruns, we indicated clearly that, the fundamentals of the economy were strong; and the nation's medium-term prospects were also bright.
Mr Speaker, we wish to reiterate that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong and the nation's medium-term prospects are bright. Mr Speaker, I have no reason to present a contrary view to this House at this moment.
6. Mr Speaker, throughout the year, we have been putting a lot of focus on implementing programmes that would stabilize the budget and consolidate our Lower Middle Income Country (LMIC) status and extend its benefits to current and future generations. However, it is obvious that the additional focus on highlighting and correcting the short-term imbalances in public managing purse has led to some misconceptions; and even deliberate dis- tortions of our economic performance.

Second, our real GDP growth rate

which has averaged 7 per cent in recent years, in spite of all the known challenges, is much higher than the sub-Saharan African aver- age of 4.9 per cent and the average global rate of 3.2 per cent. Indeed, the provisional 7.4 per cent growth rate for 2013 reported by the Ghana Statistical Service showed positive growth rates for all sub-sectors -- [Interruption.] We should be proud of this performance as a nation.

Third, for a nation which, accord- ing to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is globally among three African countries (the others being South Africa and Nigeria) to have attracted the highest Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) with ac- cumulated volumes of more than US$10 billion in the last few years, our record reflects the high investor confidence in the economy and not otherwise.

Mr Speaker, our positive medi- um-term prospects are widely acknowledged, especially, as we become a significant hydrocarbon and power producer in the sub-re- gion; while also maintaining a diversified economy with a solid agricultural and service base. There- fore, Mr Speaker, the confidence which we ascribe to, also inspires us to acknowledge our short- term challenges, but move beyond them with bold strategies to secure those positive prospects;

Ghana won the confidence of the international financial markets with stable domestic bond performances that were halted in 2007. Further- more, in August this year, we issued a second international sovereign bond which was over-subscribed by a whopping amount of US$1.5 billion. It is against this background, that we plan to make the recourse to

development financing through the Capital Market Sources a prominent feature of our financing strategy.

Mr Speaker, this Government has been pursuing accelerated infra- structure development supported by effective public finance manage- ment and institutional reforms, to lay the foundation for the next decade of inclusive and shared growth. To reit- erate, our country has high potential for development, underpinned by a relatively well-diversified economy, multiple growth drivers, sizeable sub-regional market, hardworking and skilled citizens. We will con- tinue to pursue the opportunities for prosperity and wealth; with additional bold initiatives as I shall highlight in this budget.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I stand before this Honourable House to present a budget that is truly trans- formational in highlighting policies for consolidating our middle income status.

7. Mr. Speaker, our plan to address the short-term imbalances in the budget, as presented to this House in March, 2013, are yielding results. It is also on course and it boosts our confidence in achieving the objectives of the GSGDA. For the avoid- ance of doubt, we presented a multi-year programme of adjustment, not one that would be completed in a single year. The adjustment is therefore, properly gauged, sequenced, and measured to avoid undue disruptions to the economy.

8. A single-year fiscal adjustment pro- gramme has never been our experience under all administrations; not even under IMF programmes and, certainly, this is not the experience of even economically developed Western European countries

To do otherwise, is to raise the bar excessively for Ghana which has chalked these sterling performances against known volatilities. The adjustment is therefore properly gauged, sequenced and meas- ured to avoid undue distractions to the economy.

9. Mr Speaker, it is against this back- ground, therefore, that if you would permit me to account for the budget overruns that we reported in March, 2013:

Firstly, the 2012 shortfall of GH¢384.1 million (0.5 per cent of GDP) from Corporate Income Taxes (CIT) from the petroleum sector, has been completely reversed; and the projection for 2013 now shows a positive variance of GH¢224.6 million (0.3 per cent of GDP).

Secondly, the adjustments in sub- sidies for petroleum products and utilities are projected to reduce the Budget overrun from GH¢339.0 million (0.5 per cent of GDP) to GH¢244.9 million (0.3 per cent of GDP). It is important to explain that, the budget would continue to include justifiable and targeted cross- subsidies as part of our well-diversified social intervention policies, notably in the agriculture, education, health and energy (gas and solar) sectors.

Thirdly, while significantly delayed, we expect more inflows of outstand- ing grants and budget support as arising from recent consultations

with our Development Partners (DPs). The consultations are also consistent with the compact with DPs to ensure a smooth transition to middle income country status, for the country. As a result, we expect to attain the 2013 Budget target for this source of revenue.

Finally, in contrast, however, wages and salaries, as well as debt service commitments remain areas of con- cern. The nominal overrun on wages and salaries is still high at a 2013 projected outturn of GH¢1,959.3 million (2.2 per cent of GDP) com- pared to GH¢1,909.0 million (2.6 per cent of GDP) in 2012. While the focus on Single Spine Pay Pol- icy (SSPP) since 2010 has been on arrears from the migration, the 2013 overrun include payment for gratu- ity and allowances on a larger base for wages. The overrun in interest or debt payments has increased from GH¢245.0 million (0.3 per cent of GDP) in 2012 to a projected outturn of GH¢1,249.2 million (1.4 per cent of GDP) in 2013, despite positive signs that our refinancing strategy has resulted in modest reductions in interest rates in recent times.

10. Mr Speaker, to further enhance the resilience of the economy against risks and promote our accelerated growth and development with job creation, it is imperative to continue to re-align the budget to national priorities, hence the theme for this budget is, thus, “Rising to the Challenge: Realigning the Budget to meet Key National Priorities”.

Government is committed to sustain- ing the progress made so far by pursuing prudent macroeconomic and financial measures to reduce the growth of public debt and support macroeconomic stability

for accelerated growth and development. To this end, Government will continue to strengthen its prudent expenditure man- agement and revenue mobilization.

11. Mr Speaker, in rising to the chal- lenge, we will continue to address the causes of the budget overruns with sev- eral tools; and we would want to make this clear, particularly to our investment community. They include the following:

Petroleum and utility subsidy adjustments: To reduce the ad- verse impact of hefty increases of utility tariffs and petroleum prices on households and businesses, Government in collaboration with our social partners and guided by regulatory institutions, will continue the policy practice for the gradual shift to automatic price adjustment mechanism for petroleum and utility prices. There is already evidence that, this is working for the petro- leum subsidies. This realignment will keep the subsidy within budget estimates and free more resources for key national priorities.

Petroleum revenues: The current legislative arrangements on dis- tribution of petroleum receipts to allowable expenditures under the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (PRMA/Act 815) do not auger well for aligning the receipts to national priority programmes.

Mr. Speaker, some improvements such as the calculation of the Bench- mark Revenue and allocations made to the Petroleum Funds (Stabili- zation and Heritage) and Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA), require the Executive and Parlia- ment to take a second look at the PRMA for effective alignment. Therefore, we would be laying pro- posals before the House, both as fis- cal consolidation and PRMA review measures; as part of the process

of aligning the budget to national priority infrastructure programmes.

Compensation for public sector workers: While acknowledging the positive aspects of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) in retaining pub- lic sector staff and improving their productivity and incomes, the SSPP is imposing severe fiscal strain on the budget. It became necessary to tackle the overruns in compensation through engagement with labour, private sector, civil society and em- ployers at a forum in Ho, convened by H. E. President John Dramani Mahama. The communique from the forum recommended key and timely interventions that include:

i. moderation in, and conclu- sion of wage negotiations before the budget for the ensuing year is pre- sented to Parliament;

ii. a call on all social partners to adhere to the guidelines on the implementation of the Market Premium with the Labour Mar- ket Survey which will guide the identification of scarce skills beginning with the Health and Education Sectors;

iii. resorting to negotiated resolution of post conversion difficulties rather than through industrial action;

iv. working on a multi-year approach for the amount alloca- ted as compensation of emplo-

yees in annual budgets;

v. fast-tracking the payroll improvements under the Ghana Integrated Financial Manage- ment Information System (GIFMIS) reforms to eliminate waste and abuse; and

vi. implementing the producti- vi- ty elements of the SSSS reforms.

In the spirit of the emerging partner- ship among the social partners from the Ho forum, H.E. President John Dramani Mahama, his Vice Presi- dent, Ministers and Appointees have decided to take a voluntary 10 per cent pay cut for 2014. The amount to be deducted by the Controller and Accountant-General will be paid into a fund to be dedicated to special purpose Community Health (Based) Planning Services (CHPS) compounds focusing on maternal and neo-natal health.

Mr Speaker, Government, employ- ers, and organized Labour are con- tinuing negotiations on the national daily minimum wage and the public sector wage adjustments. We could not complete this process as was de- cided in Ho. We believe, however, that we are of one mind in putting the development of our nation first. We are determined that public sector compensation should not put any further stress on the fiscal envelop.

The budget must leave room for infrastructure development and other priority programmes, as was stated so eloquently recently by no less a person than the Asantehene. The social partners are committed to

the removal of leakages and wastage in public pay administration and to bring the wage bill to sustaina- ble levels to realign the budget to national priorities. It is important that we move towards the ECOWAS convergence criteria of 35 per cent of wages to tax revenue.

Mr Speaker, if I may take that again -- [Interruptions].

Hon Members, let us have order in the Chamber. Order!

Mr Speaker, if I may take that again. To demonstrate leadership and in the spirit of the partnership from H.E. President, John Dramani Mahama, his Vice President, Ministers and appointees have decided to take a voluntary 10 per cent pay cut -- [Uproar] for 2014. The amount would be -- [Uproar]

Hon Members, I hope you respect the Chair.

Mr Speaker, if I may continue.
Debt service: The reliance on short- term domestic bonds to finance cap- ital projects and the relatively high rates of interest have resulted in high debt service. Our main strategies include refinancing and extending the tenure of loans and bonds for financing the capital budget; im- plementing recovery schemes (for example, Escrows and on-lending) arrangements for commercially viable projects; and better financing
of the capital budget with sources from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) and Value Added Tax (VAT) feeding into a supporting Debt Service Account, to provide certainty of interest and loan repay- ments to the markets.
Limit on new loans: The Govern- ment has undertaken a thorough review of existing loan facilities and stock of pipeline facilities that have resulted in contracting of new loans on exceptional basis only. This is also part of a comprehensive debt restructuring and management review. and it is evident from the number of loans that have come to this House this year To reduce the cost of debt service, Government proposes, as part of the realigning of the budget, to adopt a refinancing scheme to lengthen maturities and obtain better terms for outstanding loans.
Limit on new contracts: Mr Speak- er, similarly, following the compi- lation of a comprehensive contract database to support our shift accrual accounting, Govern- ment has de- cided to suspend the award of new major contracts in 2013, to enable Ministries, Departments and Agen- cies (MDAs) focus on on-going and pipeline projects. New contracts were approved on exceptional basis only and the data base has greatly aided our shift from cash to accrual or commitment basis for govern- ment accounts.
Furthermore, since the completion of some pipeline contracts was hin- dered by lack of counterpart funds, this Honourable House will recall that a specific provision was made to partly clear these outstanding commitments from the proceeds of the August, 2013 Sovereign Bond. Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are expected to complete such ongoing and pipeline

projects and award new contracts on limited and exceptional basis within national priorities.

Mr Speaker, it is proposed that, in addition to stabilizing the fiscal sit- uation, the entire amount from the 2.5 per cent VAT be dedicated to our ongoing infrastructure and develop- ment drive --[Interruption]-- Un- der the proposed Infrastrature Fund. This proposal will also support our budget realignment theme in favour of capital expenditures or assets. The allocation will be made annu- ally to the capital budget through appropriation.

Mr Speaker, the VAT mechanism is more efficient. The level of ac- countability leaves little room for doubt. VAT also protects the socially vulnerable groups by exempting products from agriculture and fish- ing sectors, health, education and transportation. It also avoids tax cascading, by removing input tax from output tax, without which the price of final product could have been higher.

Mr Speaker, in line with the ob- jective of maintaining a liberal tax regime, it is proposed that the

following amendments should be considered and approved by the House:

iii. Special Import Levy: Fur- ther, it is also proposed that the following be specifically exempted from the Special Import Levy, with immediate effect -- agriculture and fish- ing inputs, such as cut- lasses, outboard motors and fishing nets; medical supplies such as condoms; educa- tional materials and energy bulbs that were exempted from import duty under the original customs tariff.

Programme based budgeting: The preference for VAT is more efficient and it also enhances compliance. For the avoidance of doubt, it is proposed that, dedication of VAT to infrastructure development should pass through the normal appropri- ation process.

Mr Speaker, to facilitate the re-align- ment of the budget, consistent with the Public Financial Mana- gement (PFM) Reform agenda, which has the support of this august House, the 2014 Budget is presented in the Pro- gramme- Based Budgeting (PBB) format. Unlike the Activity-Based Budgeting approach which has been used in the last fifteen years, focus will shift from inputs and activities to service delivery and results. This

will add to several ongoing PFM initiatives that seek to promote the realignment such as:

i. Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information Sys- tems (GIFMIS);

ii. Financial accounting and pay- roll upgrade;

iii. Human Resource Manage- ment System (HRMS);

iv. Ghana Revenue Authority modernization; and

v. Fiscal decentralization.

12. It is expected that, these actions, coupled with the delivery of the PBB, will result in better accountability, improved performance and a more result-oriented budget management.

13. Mr Speaker, the theme of this year's budget, “Rising to the Challenge: Re-aligning the Budget to meet Key National Priorities” stems from His Ex- cellency President Mahama's vision and strategic direction of “a stable, united, inclusive and prosperous country with opportunities for all, and reinforce the foundation for socio-economic transfor- mation in partnership with the private sector.” His utmost commitment to the people of Ghana is to enhance the Better Ghana Agenda through “Decent Work” for Ghanaians. This overarching priority is anchored on the four pillars of the Gov- ernment's Medium-Term Development Agenda, namely:

Putting People First, by addressing the human development issue -- im- proved access to quality healthcare and education, addressing produc- tivity and employment needs of our people; and addressing the social and economic needs of the most

vulnerable through targeted and well-coordinated social protection interventions.

A Strong and Resilient Economy-- ensuring and sustaining macro-eco- nomic stability, enhancing compet- itiveness of Ghana's private sector, trade and industrial rejuve-nation in a manner that will create and sustain decent work; and acceler- ated agricultural moderniza-tion and sustainable natural resources management.

Expanding Strategic Infrastructure, especially oil and gas, strategic roads, ports and special develop- ment zones, such as Savanna Ac- celerated Development Authority (SADA) and the Western Corridor in a manner that triggers multiplier effects on rejuvenating the produc- tive sectors and attendant linkages to agricul- tural modernization.

Enhancing Transparent, Decen- tra-lized and Accountable Govern- ance, in a manner that focuses pri- ority on anti-corruption measures, advancing decentralization and service pro- vision to citizens.

Mr Speaker, the State of the Nation Address which would be presented to this House will elaborate further on these things as well.

14. Mr Speaker, the main elements of this budget are therefore drawn from the President's priorities for the medium term which will be presented to this Honourable House in the coming months, elaborated in the GSGDA II (201-2017) being finalized by Government; and forms part of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework

(MTEF).

15. Mr Speaker, consistent with the medium-term objectives, Government will pursue programmes and policies to

achieve and sustain an average real GDP growth of not less than 8.0 per cent in the medium term.

16. Mr Speaker, the attainment of Low- er Middle Income Country (LMIC) status, however, has led to reduction in very soft and long-term aid inflows and its attendant fiscal and balance of payments challeng- es. Attracting concessional financing is increasingly becoming difficult. Two of our multilateral development partners, the World Bank (IDA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), have varied the terms of credit to our disadvantage, as a result of our migration from the LDC to LMIC status. For example, World Bank credit which we could access at 0.75 per cent service charge and 40 years of maturity is now accessed with a service charge of 1.25 per cent and a maturity of 25 years. Likewise, the African Develop- ment Bank has notified us of changes in the terms of their credit, similar to that of the World Bank.

17. Mr Speaker, Government recog- nizes that, to achieve the medium term national development priorities it has set for itself, will require a bold effort at doing things differently, and leveraging the ben- efits of efficiency-driven economy for the long term socio-economic development of the country. This will also require the elim- ination of corruption in our transaction, as emphasized by His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama who has led the way by announcing bold anti-corruption initiatives.

18. Mr Speaker, Government will con- tinue with all the ongoing infras- tructure projects in all sectors; as well as the social intervention programmes, the details of which have been presented in section five of this document.

19. Mr Speaker, I will now continue to present the key aspects of the 2014

Budget.

Section Two: Global economic devel- op-ments

Mr Speaker, if I may turn to global developments.

21. Mr Speaker, according to the October 2013, World Economic Outlook (WEO) of the IMF, world output growth is forecast to reach about 3.3 per cent in 2013 and 4.0 per cent in 2014. The global growth is expected to come mainly from the United States, but likely to be damp- ened by development in Japan; as well as in Europe, where activity will move into higher gear as fiscal consolidation eases and monetary conditions stay supportive.

The Japanese economy, which has re- bound recently, is expected to lose steam in 2014; due to fiscal tightening. Growth in the Euro Zone is expected to remain sluggish in 2014.

22. Mr Speaker, economic activity in Sub-Sahara Africa was robust in the first half of 2013, amidst the recent global financial market volatility which has af- fected mainly frontier economies in the region. The region is expected to end 2013 with an average growth rate of 5 per cent, but increase to six per cent in 2014.

The growth rate in the West Africa Monetary Zone as depicted in the zone ag-

gregate real GDP was 6.7 per cent during the half of 2013 which is projected to reach 6 per cent in 2014, mainly on account of strong domestic demand. Other factors that are expected to feed into growth in 2014 include investments in infrastructure and increased output from energy and nat- ural resource projects coming on stream in some countries in the region.

23. Inflation is expected to remain generally stable in advanced countries, supported by a slowdown in commodity price movements. In major emerging market economies, however, inflation has been relatively higher, a problem that has been magnified by the exchange rate depreciation of recent months. The external financing condition that has led to the weakening of emerging market currencies in recent months could also drive up inflation.

24. Mr Speaker, addressing the in- creased volatility and achieving strong, balanced and sustainable global growth, will continue to require appropriate policy responses and reforms in countries of all income levels. According to the WEO, key advanced economies are expected to pursue a policy mix, that supports near-term growth, which must be linked to reliable plans for medium-term public debt sustainability; and allowing for more gradual near-term fiscal adjustment.

With low inflation and sizable eco- nomic slack, monetary policy stimulus is expected to continue until the recovery is well established. Potential adverse side-effects are expected to be contained with regulatory and macro-prudential policies, while further progress in financial sector restructuring and reform is needed to recapitalize and restructure bank bal- ance sheets and improve monetary policy transmission.

Commodity prices

25. Mr Speaker, recently, risks of a spike in oil prices have arisen because of the threat of disruptions due to increasing unrest and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and North Africa. Demand for protection against inflation has waned, as the Federal Reserve has started to signal the end of quantitative easing in the United States. The traditional drivers of demand for gold have weakened or reversed in the last few months. Also, demand for safe haven assets has diminished as the worst of the crisis in the Euro Zone appears to be over. As a result, gold prices have declined by about 11 per cent on average to US$1,465.5 per fine ounce, during the period under review.

Implications of the global economic outlook on Ghana's economy

26. Mr Speaker, the impact of the glob- al developments on the Ghanaian econo- my is mixed and diverse. The increasing unrest and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and North Africa continue to threaten our oil production, prices pointing to potential spikes in oil prices. As a net oil importer, there is the need for the right policy mix to insulate the country from unexpected external shocks.

On the downside, the expected high unemployment rates in advanced econ- omies are likely to weaken global aggre- gate demand, with serious implications for commodity exporters such as Ghana. The easing of the recent global financial market volatility in advanced economies is expected to restore investor confidence in stock markets, weaken demand for gold and lower gold prices further.

27. The spillovers from sluggish exter- nal demand, reversal of capital flows and declines in commodity prices pose great

states; as their performance on these criteria deteriorated to 22.2 per cent at end-June 2013, from 27.8 per cent at end-June 2012, as indicated in Table 4.
ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme
36. Mr Speaker, all the WAMZ countries have signed on to the ECOWAS Trade Liberal- ization Scheme (ETLS), yet intra-regional trade remains low. This is as a result of a number of challenges facing the implementation of the scheme, including poor infrastructure, the existence of high primary complimentary export commodities and non-tariff barriers.
The ECOWAS Commission is, therefore, determined to address these challenges by encouraging member countries to remove all non-tariff barriers and improve on trade.
ECOWAS Common External Tariffs
37. Under Article 37 of the Revised Treaty of 1993, member states agreed to “the gradual establishment of a Common External Tariff (CET) for goods imported into member states
from third countries in accordance with a schedule to be recommended by the Trade, Customs, Taxation, Statistics, Money and Payments Commission of ECOWAS.
38. Mr Speaker, Ghana has been in- volved in the meetings and processes of the CET since 2004. The architecture of the ECOWAS CET is shown in Table 5.
39. Mr Speaker, the final decision on the CET was ratified at the extra-ordinary summit held on 25th October, 2013, in Da- kar, Senegal, where it was decided that, the full implementation of the ECOWAS tariff
regime shall commence on 1st January, 2015. The implication is that Ghana would have to ratify the ECOWAS CET through Parliament before 1st January, 2015.
Section Three: Macroeconomic perfor- mance for 2013
Mr Speaker, may I now turn to perfor- mance for 2013 outlook for 2014.
Real Sector
40. Mr Speaker, the Ghana Statistical
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Service (GSS) released the provisional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report in September, 2013. The Report estimates the provisional 2013 real GDP growth at 7.4 per cent, which is impressive but lower than a projected growth of 8.0 per cent and the 2012 growth of 7.9
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per cent, as shown in Figure 1. We say this is impressive because of power crises and other factors that affected the economy.
41. Mr Speaker, even though the provisional real GDP growth rate of 7.4 percent is lower than the 2013 Budget projection of 8.0 per cent, the real GDP value is higher than the value projected in the 2013 Budget. The provisional 2013 real GDP, which stands at GH¢32,332 mil- lion, compares favourably with the 2013 Budget projection of GH¢32,109 million and the 2012 revised real GDP level of GH¢30,099 million.
The higher-than-projected real GDP

42. With a higher-than-expected infla- tion rate for 2013, the Ministry of Finance projects a higher GDP deflator and, con- sequently, a higher nominal GDP growth than the GSS estimate, which is based on half-year sectoral figures.

43. Mr Speaker, the services sector once again led the overall GDP, with a growth of 9.2 per cent, followed by the

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industry sector with 9.1 per cent and ag- riculture with 3.4 per cent. Non-oil GDP growth stood at 5.8 per cent.

44. Mr Speaker, we are happy to an- nounce that the agriculture sector, which experienced a declining growth in 2010 and 2011, is beginning to show signs of recovery. The agriculture sector has post- ed a consistent increasing growth since the marginal growth of 0.8 per cent in 2011. It grew by 1.3 percent in 2012 and 3.4 per cent in 2013, even as the pace of industry and services sectors have also been expanding.

The 2013 growth is on account of a

the weight of the housing, electricity, water and gas component was revised upwards from 7.0 per cent to 9.5 per cent.
57. Mr Speaker, with the increase in the weight of transport from 6.2 per cent to 7.2 per cent in the rebased CPI, the pass through effect of fuel price adjustments was more telling than would have been the case in the old CPI. The same applies to housing, electricity, water and gas. For instance, the rebasing led to the weights of some goods whose prices scarcely deter demand, such as housing, water, electricity and gas; education; and transport being adjusted upwards, while that of food reduced, albeit marginally.
On the other hand, food inflation has been lower than non-food inflation in the periods of single digit inflation. This means that a much bigger weight for the food component in the CPI basket portends a lower overall inflation than would otherwise have been.
58. Mr Speaker, it is expected that inflation will end the year around the upper bound of the inflation target of 9%±2%, due mainly to the utility and fuel price adjustments that have taken place in the course of the year.
Monetary sector developments
59. Mr Speaker, in an effort to achieve the target inflation, monetary policy was programmed to complement Government efforts at fiscal consolidation and ensuring macroeconomic stability. In the year to September, 2013, developments in the monetary aggregates indicated that the annual growth rate of Broad Money Supply (M2+), declined to 17.7 per cent year-on-year, compared with a growth of 24.3 per cent in December, 2012 and 28.8 per cent in September, 2012.
60. Strong Open Market Operations resulted in a slower reserve money growth of 21.0 per cent (GH¢1,362.7 million), on year-on-year basis in September 2013 compared with 49.3 per cent (GH¢2,141.1 million) the previous year and 37.8 per cent (GH¢1,191.1 million) in 2011.
61. Mr Speaker, the slower pace of expansion in reserve money in the year was due to slower growth in net domestic assets, which increased by GH¢734.3 million (30.0 per cent) during the review period, compared with an increase of GH¢3,414.6 million (351.9 per cent) in 2012. Within the NDA, Government position with the Bank of Ghana wors- ened by GH¢742.6 million (17.1 per cent), while claims on the rest of the economy grew by GH¢1,680.1 million (114.7 per cent). Net Foreign Assets, however, increased by 15.6

per cent (GH¢628.4 million) during the review period, compared with a decline of 24.0 per cent (GH¢1,273.2 million) for the same period in 2012.

Credit to the private sector

62. Mr Speaker, the pace of expansion in credit to the private sector significantly moderated during the review period. In nominal terms, credit to the private sector recorded an annual growth of 26.6 per cent in September 2013, compared with 43.8 per cent growth, in September 2012. In real terms, private sector credit grew by 13.1 per cent, down from 31.4 per cent in 2012.

Developments in interest rates

63. Mr Speaker, interest rates picked up in the early part of the year, but showed signs of cooling down in the third quarter. The Bank of Ghana's monetary policy rate was raised by 1 percentage point in April 2013, to 16.0 percent in response to developments in macroeconomic funda- mentals. At its September, 2013 meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee kept the rate at 16.0 per cent. In response, devel- opments in interest rates over the review period have been mixed.

The 91-day treasury bill rate, the 2-year note and the 5-year bond closed September at 23.1, 23.0 and 23.0 per cent, respective- ly, the same level as in December, 2012. The 182-day bill, the 1-year note and the 3-year bond, however, declined by 0.1, 0.4 and 1.8 per cent to end September, 2013 at 22.9, 22.5 and 19.2 per cent, respectively.

Developments in exchange rate

64. Mr Speaker, developments in the

65. Supply of foreign exchange was, however, boosted by purchases from banks, swaps and inflows from the 3-year and 5-year bonds, as well as the proceeds from the Euro Bond. Over the review pe- riod, the Ghana cedi depreciated by 4.12 per cent, 9.97 per cent and 14.1 per cent against the US dollar, the pound sterling and the euro, respectively, compared with depreciations of 17.9 per cent, 14.1 per cent and 13.1 per cent over the same period in 2012, as shown in Table 9.
Table 9: Performance of the Cedi against Major Currencies - Page 24 -

External sector developments

66. Mr Speaker, the provisional trade balance for the period January to Septem- ber 2013 recorded a deficit of US$2,744.2 million, showing an improvement of US$226.0 million, compared to a deficit of US$2,970.2 million recorded for the same period in 2012. The improvement in the trade balance was on account of a marginal decline in imports against a marginal growth in exports.

The trade balance is to improve from the initial projected deficit of about five billion United State dollars to an estimate of four billion on account of a drop in projected imports.

77. Mr Speaker, against the backdrop of a high fiscal deficit in 2012, fiscal pol- icy outlined in the 2013 Budget aimed to achieve fiscal prudence, resulting in sus- tainable debt limits and a reduction in the budget deficit from 11.8 per cent of GDP in 2012 to 9.0 per cent of GDP in 2013.

78. Mr Speaker, the fiscal and other related targets were to be achieved through measures that include:

improved revenue mobilization through the Ghana Revenue Author- ity's (GRA) ongoing Modernization Programme — an area that remains challenging;

realigning key budget items and enhancing the efficiency of public expenditures through the ongoing Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms, (including GIF- MIS) — the budget will continue to focus on addressing short-term challenges; and

reviewing capital expenditures and the strategy for financing them — which is the focus for policy initia- tives this year.

79. Mr Speaker, preliminary data for the first nine months of the year indicate that, both revenue and expenditure were below their respective targets for the peri- od. However, since the shortfall in revenue exceeded the shortfall in expenditure, the resulting fiscal deficit on cash basis, was equivalent to 8.4 per cent of GDP against a target of 7.2 per cent. This compares to a deficit equivalent to 7.7 per cent of GDP for the same period in 2012. Government fiscal position for January to September and outlook for 2013 are summarized in Table 11.

exemptions) and 71.3 per cent of tax revenue (excluding exemptions). For the year as a whole, wages and salaries, including the provision made for the clearance of wage arrears is projected at GH¢9,567.1 million, 25.8 per cent higher than the 2013 budget estimate.
89. Mr Speaker, interest payment for the period totalled GH¢3,285.1 million, 39.5 per cent higher than the budget target of GH¢2,355.0 million and 111.1 per cent higher than the outturn for the corresponding period in 2012. Of this amount, domestic interest was

47.2 per cent higher than the budget target.

On a year-on-year basis, domestic interest grew by 140.4 per cent, reflecting very high domestic borrowing in 2012 to finance the deficit. Given the outturn for the first three quarters of the year, total interest cost for the whole year is projected at GH¢4,443.5 million, 39.1 per cent higher than the 2013 budget estimate.

90. Expenditure on Goods and Services amounted to GH¢657.0 million, against a budget target of GH¢1,080.3 million. The lower expenditure on goods and services, was mainly as a result of the need to rationalise discretionary spending in the face of revenue shortfalls, high expenditures on wages and salaries, as well as high interest cost. In this regard, expenditure on goods and services for the whole year, is projected at GH¢1,045.4 million, 40.0 per cent lower than the 2013 Budget estimate.

91. Total capital expenditure for the period amounted to GH¢3,466.5 million, equiv- alent to 4.0 per cent of GDP. This compares with a budget target of GH¢3,674.9 million, equivalent to 4.1 per cent of GDP. The shortfall in capital expenditure was mainly as a result of the slow disbursement of some project loans. Of the total capital expenditure for the period, domestically-financed capital expenditure was GH¢1,139.1 million, 20.5 per

cent higher than the budget target.

To ensure that growth is not further negatively impacted by a reduction in capital spending due to the shortfall in revenue, part of the proceeds from the Eurobond issue, was earmarked to fund capital expenditures in the budget. Besides ABFA, this contributed to the relatively higher performance of domestically fi- nanced capital expenditure.

92. On account of the slow dis- burse-ment of project loans, total capital expenditure for the year is projected at GH¢4,544.1 million, 11.9 per cent lower than the budget estimate. Central Govern- ment expenditures for January to Septem- ber and outlook for 2013 are summarised in Table 14.

Table 14: Summary of Central Gov- ernment Expenditures - 2013 - PAGE

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Overall budget balance and financing

93. Mr Speaker, based on revenue and expenditure outturns for the first three quarters of the year, the overall budget balance on cash basis, registered a deficit of GH¢7,334.5 million, equivalent to 8.4 per cent of GDP. This was against a deficit target of GH¢6,368.3 million, equivalent to 7.2 per cent of GDP.

94. Based on the projected revenue and expenditure for end-2013 fiscal year, the fiscal deficit is projected at GH¢8,905.4 million, equivalent to 10.2 per cent of GDP. The projected rise in the fiscal deficit

is mainly as a result of the projected short- fall in revenue, coupled with projected higher spending on wages and salaries as well as interest costs.

95. Mr Speaker, the domestic primary balance registered a deficit of GH¢252.9 million, equivalent to 0.3 per cent of GDP, against a target deficit of GH¢766.6 mil- lion, equivalent to 0.9 per cent of GDP. For the year as a whole, the domestic primary balance is projected to be a deficit of GH¢253.9 million, equivalent to 0.3 per cent of GDP.

96. Mr Speaker, the overall budget deficit for the first three quarters of the year was financed from both domestic and foreign sources. Net domestic financing amounted to GH¢5,014.8 million, against a target of GH¢4,745.2 million. Foreign financing of the deficit was GH¢2,915.0 million, against a target of GH¢1,835.6 million.

The higher foreign financing was as a result of the use of part of the 2023 Eurobond to finance some capital ex- penditures in the budget, and to refinance high-interest maturing domestic debt. Hence, foreign financing constituted 39.7 per cent of total financing, against a target of 28.8 per cent and domestic financing constituted 68.4 per cent against a target of 74.5 per cent.

97. For the year as a whole, net domes- tic financing and foreign financing of the budget are projected at GH¢6,154.2 mil- lion and GH¢3,373.9 million, respectively. This compares to the 2013 budget estimate of GH¢5,700.8 million and GH¢2,536.0 million for net domestic financing and foreign financing, respectively. Central Government financing for January to September and outlook for 2013 are sum- marised in Table 15.

Table 15: Summary of Central Gov- ernment Financing - 2013 - PAGE 32

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98. Mr Speaker, the continuing fiscal consolidation measures are discussed in section four.

Public debt

99. Mr Speaker, the stock of public debt (including Government guaranteed debt) increased by 22.7 per cent from US$19,150.78 million at the end of 2012 to a provisional estimate of US$23,498.76 million at the end of September, 2013. As a percentage of GDP, the public debt increased from 49.3 per cent at the end of 2012 to 52.0 per cent at the end of September, 2013, as shown in Figure 4.

The lower than expected growth in GDP partly accounts for the levels of the ratios.

Figure 5: Public Debt Trend 2009 to September, 2013 - PAGE 33 - 10.55A.M.

Composition of public debt

100. E x t e r n a l d e b t t o t a l l e d US$10,794.54 million at the end of September, 2013, from the end of the 2012 stock of US$9,153.58 million. This constitutes 45.9 percent of public debt

109. Mr Speaker, total petroleum receipts, including proceeds from Jubilee Field oil liftings by GNPC on behalf of the State as at the end of the third quarter of 2013, was US$707.28 million (GH¢1,358.18 million), compared with a total 2013 budget estimate of US$581.72 million (GH¢1,122.72 million).
The main reasons for the positive var-
iance of US$125.56 million (GH¢235.40 million) were the realisation of more than expected inflows from corporate income tax and increased production. The details of the sources of petroleum receipts are shown in Table 17.
Table 17: Composition of 2013 Petro- leum Receipts - PAGE 35 - 10.55A.M.
110. Mr Speaker, of the total petrole- um receipts as at end-September, 2013, corporate income tax constituted 24.36 per cent, carried and participating Interest was 54.48 per cent, royalties was 21.06 per cent and 0.1 per cent was from surface rental, as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 6: Composition of 2013 Total Petroleum Receipts - PAGE 35 -

111. Corporate income tax received as at end-September 2013 amounted to US$172.22 million (GH¢330.83 million), against a target of US$55.86 million (GH; 107.81 million). This included a receipt of US$40.21 million (GH¢75.70 million) in the first quarter of 2013 in respect of 2012. The positive variance between the target

and actual corporate income tax resulted mainly from the increased production in the period under review. Moreover, the experience with petroleum corporate income tax in 2011 and 2012 influenced the decision to be conservative in the estimation for 2013.

112. Mr Speaker, surface rentals yielded approximately US$797,777 (GH¢1.526 million), royalties from Ju- bilee amounted to US$148.63 million (GH¢285.39 million) while royalties from the Saltpond Offshore Producing Compa- ny Limited (SOPCL) yielded US$403,831 (GH¢769,382). The SOPCL royalties re- sulted from a January to September, 2013 output of 78,376 barrels, compared with 77,374 for full year of 2012.

Distribution of 2013 petroleum receipts

113. Mr Speaker, the total Janu- ary-September, 2013 petroleum revenues were allocated in compliance with the

Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA). An amount of US$186.09 mil- lion was transferred to GNPC as its equity financing cost (US$53.50 million) and its share of the net carried and participating interest (US$132.69 million), as shown in Table 18.

Table 18: Distribution of 2013 Pe- troleum Receipts (US$) - PAGE 36

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114. The Bank of Ghana transferred an amount of US$100,000 on behalf of GNPC as its contribution to the minimum balance on the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF) Account at the Reserve Bank of New York, and GoG also contributed US$100,000 for the same purpose. BoG also deducted an amount of US$56.00 and

US$40.00 from the claims of GoG and GNPC respectively, in respect of overpayments to them in the first and second liftings in 2011.

115. Mr Speaker, the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA), which is 70 per cent of the net GOG petroleum receipts, amounted to US$204.90 million (GH¢392.94 million) with

the Ghana Heritage Fund (GHF) and the Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF), which constitute the Ghana Petroleum Funds (GPFs), receiving US$316.09 million. This is due mainly to the interpretation given to “excess” in the PRMA. Thus, by end-September, 2013, the GPFs had received more revenue than the ABFA, which is the direct opposite of what ob- tained in 2012 and 2011.

This resulted from the receipt of reve- nues over and above the quarterly ABFA which in turn resulted from the realisation of petroleum corporate income tax and increased Jubilee production.

116. Mr Speaker, Government has, thus, shown commitment in ensuring that the Funds receive their due, in line with the provisions of the PRMA. Of the total amount transferred into the Ghana Petro- leum Funds (GPFs), US$221.26 million went to the GSF and US$94.83 million

was transferred to the GHF. It is instructive to note that by end-September, 2013, the GSF alone had received more inflows than the ABFA. Utilization of the 2013 Annual Budget Funding Amount
117. Mr Speaker, the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) in the first three quarters of 2013 shows that a total amount of US$204.90 million (GH¢392.94 million) was allocated in accordance with the PRMA. The actual ABFA allocation in US dollars was equivalent to the 2013 Budget estimate but lower in cedi terms due to exchange rate differential, as shown in Table 19.
Table 19: Variance Analysis of the 2013 ABFA Receipts - PAGE 37 - 10.55A.M.
118. Mr Speaker, the 2013 ABFA apportionment marks a vast improvement over that of 2012, which fell short by US$96.96 million. The shortfall in the 2012 ABFA was primarily due to shortfalls in production targets as well as the non-realisation of corporate income tax. However, in 2013, the revenue targets were met and the Jubilee partners started paying corporate income tax, as already indicated.Mr Speaker, we shall be returning to the House with proposals to correct this because of an interpretation of certain section of the PRMA.
119. Mr Speaker, of the total ABFA of GH¢392.94 million received in the first three quarters of 2013, an amount of GH¢299.41 million, representing 76.2 percent, was dis- bursed to the four priority areas. Out of the total amount disbursed, -- [Interruption] GH¢142.34 million, representing 47.5 per cent, was spent on Road and Other Infrastruc- ture, while GH¢32.58 million, representing 10.9 percent, was spent on Capacity Building. Expenditure and amortisation of loans for oil and Gas infrastructure received GH¢119.88 million or 40.0 per cent, while agriculture modernization received GH¢4.60 million or 1.5 per cent, as shown in Table 20.
Table 20: January-September 2013 ABFA Spending on Four Priority Areas -PAGE
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120. The annual report has been published separately and is being presented together with the budget to Parliament in accordance with section 48 of the PRMA.
Section Four: Macroeconomic frame-work for the medium term and 2014
121. Mr Speaker, as noted earlier, the medium-term objective and strategic direction under the new Medium Term Development Policy Framework (MTDPF) is to expand

opportunities for all, and reinforce the foundation for socio-economic transfor- mation of the country, in partnership with the private sector.

The strategy for accelerated economic growth will be anchored on putting peo- ple first, building a strong and resilient economy, expanding infrastructure while ensuring transparent and accountable governance. This will be achieved through increased investments in infrastructure,

agriculture modernisation, manufacturing based on agro-industrialisation, Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) and targeted exploitation of Ghana's natural re- sources, particularly, minerals, oil and gas.

Real sector

122. Mr Speaker, consistent with the medium- term objectives, Government will pursue programmes and policies to achieve an average real GDP growth of not less than 8.0 per cent in the medium- term

with annual real GDP growing at 8.0 per cent in 2014, 8.2 per cent in 2015 and 10.0 per cent in 2016. In comparison with historical trends, the 2014-2016 GDP projection depicts a scaling up of agricultural output, a more evenly spread in industrial growth and, a still strong performance in the services sector.

123. Government is seeking to achieve an average growth rate of 5.4 per cent in the agriculture Sector, up from the average of 2.7 per cent attained in the 2010-2013 period. This will be achieved by investing in agriculture infrastructure and cultivation of more arable lands while embarking on reforestation activities to reclaim part of our lost forest belt.

124. Mr Speaker, reforestation activi- ties move in step with cropping, at least, in the initial years. It is our belief that our investment in reforestation activities will also lead to higher growth prospects in the crops sub-sector. This strategy will be achieved through a targeted application of allocated funds from the ABFA of the petroleum revenue and other Government revenues.

125. The industry sector is projected as the lead sector in the medium-term, with an average growth of 9.6 per cent, followed by the services sector with 9.3 per cent, as shown in Table 21.

Table 21: Medium Term Real GDP Growth Projections (2014-2016) - PAGE

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126. Mr Speaker, the expected growth of the industry sector in the medium term stems from the anticipated debut produc- tion of gas in 2014, ramped up Jubilee crude oil production in 2014 and 2015, the coming on stream of the Twenenboa- Enyenra-Ntomme (TEN), as well as the Sankofa-Gye Nyame fields in the second half of 2016.

127. Mr Speaker, the projected average

line projects to reduce medium term fiscal risks; and

refinancing and extension of tenure of debt.

136. We wish to reiterate that the country's medium-term prospects for fis- cal sustainability remains strong even as Government is committed to addressing our short-term fiscal challenges which are mostly structural and cannot be dealt with in a single year. It is in this context that we announced a multi-year adjustment and consolidation plan in the 2013 Budget.

Resource mobilisation for 2014

137. Mr Speaker, total non-oil revenue and grants for the 2014 fiscal year is esti- mated at GH¢24,276.6 million, equivalent to 25.0 per cent of non-oil GDP. The ex- pected non-oil revenue and grants for the year represents a 26.3 per cent increase over the projected outturn for 2013.

138. For the 2014 fiscal year, total revenue from oil that will accrue to the budget is estimated at GH¢1,709.4 mil- lion, equivalent to 1.6 per cent of GDP.

139. Thus, total revenue and grants including oil for the 2014 budget are esti- mated at GH¢25,986.0 million, equivalent to 24.6 per cent of GDP.

140. Domestic revenue, made up of tax and non-tax revenue is estimated at GH¢24,855.3 million, 27.2 per cent higher than the projected outturn for 2013.

141. Mr Speaker, total tax revenue is estimated at GH¢20,351.1 million, repre- senting 19.3 per cent of GDP. This shows an increase of 34.5 per cent over the projected outturn for 2013. Of this amount, non-oil

tax revenue is estimated to grow by 35.6 percent to GH¢19,589.8 million, equivalent to 20.1 per cent of non-oil GDP.

142.Taxes on income and property are estimated to increase by 35.2 per cent to GH¢9,238.3 million in 2014, accounting for 45.4 per cent of total tax revenue. Of this amount, royalties and corporate income tax from oil is estimated at GH¢761.3 million.

143. Taxes on goods and services are estimated at GH¢7,061.7 million, representing 41.5 per cent increase over the projected outturn for 2013 and 34.7 per cent of the estimated total

from both domestic and foreign sources. Net domestic financing is estimated at GH¢4,117.9 million, equivalent to 3.9 per cent of GDP, and financing from foreign sources are estimated at GH¢4,921.9 million, equivalent to 4.7 per cent of GDP.
Table 24: Summary of Financing of the 2014 Budget Deficit - PAGE 46
- 10.55A.M.
Public debt
The stock of public debt including government guaranteed debts increased by 22.7 per cent-- [Interruption]-- from 19.2 billion United State dollars at the end 2012 to a provisional estimate of 23.5 billion at the end of September, 2013. As a result, Mr Speaker, the lower than ex- pected growth in GDP hence it is expected to recover in 2014.
Mr Speaker, in 2013, Government took steps to restructure our domestic debt with measure, that includes substituting portions of the domestic debt with external debts as part of the 2013 Eurobond issue and the issue of seven-year domestic bond.
Mr Speaker, I would return to these things when I present the Government's policy initiatives.
160. Mr Speaker, as noted, the attain- ment of middle income status has resulted in dwindling access to grants and conces- sional facilities. This has led to Govern- ment's reliance on non-concessional and commercial loans to finance the deficit and capital expenditures at high interest rates and shorter tenure. To mitigate risks associated with the debt portfolio, Govern- ment will pursue the following financing strategies in the medium-term:
Concessional borrowing with grant element of not less than 35 per cent; Restrict non-concessional borrow- ing mainly to economically viable and self-financing projects; and Undertake liability sharing financ- ing measures that will involve the issuance of guarantees, and on-lending to self-financing SOEs
and Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV)/Joint Ventures (JVs);
Lengthening the maturity profile of domestic debt through the issuance of longer dated bonds.
Projection of 2014 petroleum receipts
161. Mr Speaker, after two and ahalf years of implementation of the PRMA, stakeholders have identified some inconsistencies, as well as operational and administrative challenges in the Act. The Ministry of Finance has, therefore, commenced the process of reviewing some sections in the Act to ensure its smooth implementation. All stakeholders are invited to submit proposals to inform the review which Cabinet will submit to this august House for consideration and passage during the first quarter of 2014.
162. Mr Speaker, the petroleum revenue that will accrue to Government in 2014 has
been estimated in line with the provisions in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815). The total petroleum revenue which will accrue to the State in 2014 is estimated at US$776,999,702.58 (GH¢1,709,399,345.67). In line with the PRMA, the estimates have been duly cer- tified by an independent consultant and are summarised in Table 25.
Table 25: Composition of Projected 2014 Petroleum Receipts - PAGE 47 -

163. The 2014 projected crude oil price per barrel was estimated as a sev- en-year moving average of actual average unit price of crude oil for the four years immediately prior to the current financial year (2009-2012), the price for the cur- rent financial year (2013), and expected average unit price for the two years im- mediately following the current financial year (2014-2015). Based on this formula, the 2014 crude oil price is projected at US$93.3373 per barrel.

164. The projected total quantity of crude oil for 2014 was also estimated at 33,955,644 barrels (that is, 93,029 barrels per day), using the average quantity of crude oil for three years -- the three years being the immediately preceding year (2012), the current financial year (2013) and the year following the current financial year (2014).

Distribution of projected 2014 petrole- um receipts

165. Mr Speaker, this august House granted approval for the petroleum rev- enue distribution formula which was provided in the Supplementary Budget presented in 2011. The PRMA requires a revision of a number of provisions with

respect to petroleum revenue distribution after every three years and, are thus, due for revision in 2014. Consequently, we would like to make a number of proposals regarding these provisions for 2014-2016.

The full details of the proposals, with the relevant sections of the PRMA, have been provided in the Policy Initiatives sec- tion and in the appendices of this budget document.

166. Mr Speaker, two of these propos- als are to revise the GNPC's share of the net carried and participating Interest from 40 per cent to 30 per cent; and to maintain the current four priority areas for ABFA spending.

167. Mr Speaker, we have applied the distribution formula proposed earlier to the various allowable items as shown in Table 26.

Table 26: Distribution of Projected 2014 Petroleum Receipts - PAGE 48 -

168. Mr Speaker, of the total pe- troleum receipts due the State, the pro- posed total transfer to the NOC (that is, GNPC) is estimated at US$192.61 million (GH¢423.74 million). Out of this amount, US$99.14 million (GH¢218.11 million) is allocated as equity financing cost and US$93.47 million (GH¢205.63 million) is the NOC's 30 per cent share of the carried and participating interest, net of equity

financing cost.
169. Mr Speaker, the Benchmark Revenue is estimated at US$584.39 million (GH¢1,285.66 million). It is proposed that 70 percent or US$409.07 million (GH¢899.96 million) of the benchmark Revenue be allocated to the ABFA and 30 per cent or US$175.32 million (GH¢385.70 million) be allocated to the GPFs. Out of the amount allocated to the GPFs, it is further proposed that 70 per cent or US$122.72 million (GH¢269.99 million) be allocated to the GSF while 30 per cent or US$52.60 million (GH¢115.71 million) is allocated to the GHF.
170. Mr Speaker, section 21 (5) of the PRMA states that the ABFA shall be spent in not more than four priority areas in order to maximize the impact of the use of petroleum revenue. Section 21 (6) also states that the four priority areas where the ABFA is spent shall be reviewed every three years, with 2014 as the first year of review. We are proposing to this august House to consider and approve the existing four areas for the period 2014- 2016. The priority areas and the attached budget lines for 2014 are shown in Table 27.
Table 27: ABFA Distribution for the Four Priority Areas - PAGE 49 - 10.55A.M.
171. Mr Speaker, Government is re-orienting the expenditure in the four priority areas to focus primarily on capital projects. The 2014 ABFA expenditure will be devoted to only a few capital projects to increase efficiency and effectiveness. To this end, Government has decided to deploy the ABFA for the development of six projects in the medium-term and, to clear pipeline infrastructure projects, as shown in appendices. Macroeconomic targets for the medium-term and 2014
Mr Speaker, the medium-term objective and strategic under the medium term devel- opment policy framework is to expand opportunities for all and reinforce the foundation

for socio-economic transformation of the country in partnership with the private sector.

Mr Speaker based on the above me- dium-term macroeconomic framework, the specific macroeconomic targets to be pursued for the medium-term (2014-2016) include the following: ?

an average real GDP (including oil) growth rate of at least 8 per cent;

an average non-oil real GDP growth rate of at least 8 per cent;

an inflation target of 9 per cent with a band of plus or minus 2 percent;

an overall budget deficit of 6 per cent by 2016;

gross international reserves which will cover not less than 4 months of imports of goods and services by 2016.

173. Mr Speaker, the specific mac- ro-economic targets for 2014 are as follows:

non-oil real GDP growth of 7.4 per cent;

overall real GDP (including oil) growth of 8.0 per cent;

an end-year inflation target of 9.5 per cent within the band of plus or minus 2 per cent;

Overall budget deficit equivalent to 8.5 per cent of GDP; and

gross international reserves of not less than 3 months of import cover of goods and services.

Section Five: Sectoral Performance and Outlook

Administration Sector

Office of Government Machinery

174. The Office of Government Ma- chinery exists to institutionalize open, transparent, and accountable governance for the attainment of Government's devel- opment agenda of improving the quality of life of Ghanaians. Key achievements for 2013 and outlook for 2014 are as follows:

2013 Performance and outlook for 2014

Institutional development programme

175. Mr Speaker, in furtherance of human development, employment and productivity, and in pursuit of the objec- tive of developing human resource for national growth, the Scholarship Secre- tariat continued to administer and monitor scholarships.

To this end, the Secretariat paid the sec- ond-term fees of 73,675 students on schol- arships in second cycle institutions as well as allowances for the first half-year of 671 students on Bilateral Scholarship Awards in 12 countries. In 2014, the Scholarships

Secretariat will continue to carry out its mandate of scholarships administration.

176. As a new organization, much of the maiden year of the existence of the Office of the Administrator-General (OAG) was devoted to start-up activities and consolidating its legal and statutory foundations.

177. Mr Speaker, the Office facilitated, regulated and managed the transition from the Mills/Mahama Administration to the newly elected Mahama Administration. In 2014, the

performance by making it fully functional and decentralizing its operations to all the regions. The Authority will also continue with the printing and distribution of the Ghanacards to the remaining nine regions.
Investment promotion and manage- ment programme
190. Mr Speaker, the Ghana Invest- ment Promotion Centre (GIPC) attracted and registered 199 Foreign Direct In- vestment (FDI) projects in the areas of solar power generation, financial services, manufac-turing of beverages, real estate develop-ment, growing and milling rice with Thai technology as well as culti- vation and procession of rubber and oil palm. This resulted in total FDI inflow of US$517.35 million and created 75,161 jobs comprising 63,781 Ghanaians and 11,380 expatriates.
191. In 2014, the Centre will intensify its investment drive to increase foreign direct Investment by 20 per cent and stim- ulate US$1.0 billion worth of domestic private sector investment. This will lead to a 30 per cent increase in new jobs.
192. Mr Speaker, the Savannah Accel- erated Development Authority (SADA) provided, 2,075 tractors to poor farmers for the 2013 farming season. This will increase farm outputs and contribute to household income levels, address food security and create opportunities for ac- tors in the various value chains of maize, soya and rice within the Northern Sector Ecological Zone (NSEZ). In addition, 20,000 households in the NSEZ received subsidized fertilizer, seed and agronomic support.
193. 2014, the Authority will increase smallholder farmer productivity by 50 per cent, increase agriculture mechaniza-tion

and bio-technology to increase yields of five tonnes per hectare and add value to agriculture products in order to make them more competitive. As part of the agriculture modernization programme, the Authority will provide 500 tricycles for farmers to cart agriculture inputs and farm produce to reduce post-harvest losses.

194. Mr Speaker, 2,000 farm families were supported to grow mangoes while a private company was engaged to create employment for about 5,000 youth to grow 5,000,000 trees and contribute to greening the North, protecting river bod- ies and promoting good environmental practices. In 2014, the Authority will formally hand over the 5,000,000 trees planted in 2012/13 to local communities and support them to protect and nurture the trees. Training and awareness creation against bush fires and other alternative environmental practices will be provided.

195.The Authority promoted dry sea- son farming using butter-nut squash as an entry point to generate employment and foreign exchange through exports. In 2014, the Authority will increase the number of beneficiaries under the dry season farming of butter-nut squash and introduce other horticulture crop species that can withstand conditions in the NSEZ.

196. Mr Speaker, under the Guinea Fowl Project, a joint venture company was formed to promote the commercial and high- tech production of guinea fowls for local consumption and export. The company commenced the construction of ultra-modern facilities to promote out-grower schemes and create employ- ment opportunities.

197. Other interventions in collab- ora-tion with other stakeholders are in the area of irrigation development on the Sissili and Kulpawn Rivers and the establishment of a solar farm at Nabogu to produce 40 megawatts of power to feed

into the national grid.

198. Mr Speaker, in 2014, the Authority will complete the legal processes for im- plementation of the irrigation project and the establishment of the solar plant. The Authority will also leverage funding to establish commercial integrated farms to produce rice, lemon grass and other crops for local use and export.

199. In order to ensure the successful implementation of the SADA programme, a robust M&E framework will be devel- oped to ensure a holistic supervision and monitoring of the projects.

200. Mr Speaker, the Millenium Devel- opment Authority completed 56 boreholes, five small town water systems and pipe extensions across 52 communities in 25 districts. In addition, 14 post-harvest infrastructure projects in the Southern Horticulture Belt, comprising a perishable cargo centre at KIA, three pack houses at Mariakrom, Otwekrom and Akorley were completed.

Furthermore, the rehabilitation of two irrigation schemes at Golinga and Bontanga, the construction of a 75 kilo- metres trunk road from Agogo to Dome in the Afram Basin and a 46 kilometres feeder road in the Volta Region were also completed.

201. Mr Speaker, the Authority also completed 252 educational facilities comprising 129 school blocks, 1 teacher's bungalow and extended electricity supply to 10 post-harvest facilities on large scale farms and 1 irrigation project.

The Authority is working with the Mil- lennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to define potential projects for Ghana's Second Compact, which will seek to address the country's challenges in the energy sector. Subsequently, the Authority

has submitted detailed project proposals outlining proposed compact investments in generation, distribution and access to electricity.

202. Mr Speaker, the Micro finance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) imported and distributed 1,000 outboard motors and 6,450 bundles of fishing nets to fishermen in all the fishing communities in Ghana. The 1,000 outboard motors are expected to generate at least 13,000 new direct jobs and 20,000 indirect jobs.

203. In 2014, MASLOC will finance the construction of cold stores in James Town to consolidate the value chain in the fishing sector. In addition, The Centre will acquire and distribute 1,000 outboard motors and a number of fishing nets to support fishermen. The Centre will con- tinue to collaborate with the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development to upgrade outboard motor garages to make them more efficient and expose them to modern scientific ways of doing business.

204. Mr Speaker, MASLOC will sup- ply inputs to hairdressing salons and train hairdressers to make them more effective to attract more clientele while trained seamstresses will set up to retrain others in order to take advantage of the Govern- ment's free school uniforms initiative. Chop bars will be supported to employ modern hygienic ways of doing business and also build their capacities to enable them become more efficient.

205. Under the Vehicle Hire Purchase Scheme, 390 Hyundai Verna cars and 200 Hyundai Accent cars were distributed to individuals and taxi drivers across the country.

206. Mr Speaker, to improve incomes, livelihoods and economic welfare of farm- ers, MASLOC funded 48 poultry farmers in the Volta Region to produce table eggs for sale and also provided training and su-

its constitutional mandate of passage of required legislations. The Parliamentary Chamber was expanded to accommodate the increased membership of the House. The House (Plenary and Committees) held a total of 331 Sittings during which Papers/Bills were presented to the House for consideration. These included Legis- lative Instruments, Constitutional Instru- ments, Loans/Agreements, Reports from the Committees of the House and MDAs among others.

222. Parliament continued to exercise its constitutional mandate of effective oversight over the use of State resources. In this direction, the Public Accounts Committee reported to Parliament on a number of Auditor-General's Reports submitted to the House pursuant to article 187 of the Constitution. The Committee held 10 sittings to consider outstanding Reports before it.

223. Mr Speaker, the Sixth Parliament composed the various Committees of the House, approved ministerial and depu- ty-ministerial nominees as well as the na- tional budget and received the President's message on the State of the Nation.

224. In the ensuing year, Parliament will establish an Office of Scrutiny and Fiscal Analysis to provide in-house capacity on fiscal, financial and budget analysis. The Office will support the work of Parliament across its legislative, representation and oversight functions, and in particular contribute to increased capacity and effectiveness of Parliament in the budget process and national poverty reduction efforts.

Parliament will also undertake moni- toring and evaluation of public projects and introduce tools to track the implemen- tation of the Public Accounts Committee's recommendations.

position in major multilateral institutions to which Ghana belongs, in order to help search for sustainable solutions to the challenges confronting international peace, stability, security and socio- economic development. Accordingly, H.E. the President participated in the 68th UN General Assembly in New York during which he contributed to the discussions on global peace and security.

256. Mr Speaker, Ghana's bilateral relations with most countries continue to be at its peak and the Ministry endeavoured to sustain same during the year under review. H.E. the President paid a high level visit to the UK at the invitation of Prime Minister Rt Hon David Cameron during which a number of bilateral economic and technical co-operation agreements were signed for implementation. The President also visited Turkey and France where he held economic bilateral talks with his counterparts. In addition, various senior government officials paid important visits to strengthen relations with key bilateral partners such as Russia, China, Japan and Korea.

257. Conversely, high level visits were paid to the country by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, H.E. General Michel Sleiman of Lebanon, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada, Hon John Bard and the Governor-General of Canada Rt Hon David Johnson among others. During these visits, bilateral economic talks were held with H.E. the President of Ghana.

258. Mr Speaker, the Ministry and its Missions abroad co-ordinated presidential audience with the Ghanaian communities during the President's foreign travels to London, Paris, Ankara and Bamako to solicit their input into national development. A Diaspora Support Unit was established at the Legal and Consular Bureau of the Ministry to compile a comprehensive database of Ghanaians in

the diaspora.

259. In 2014, the Ministry will continue to assist Government in its bid to deepen and diversify relations with our immediate neighbours, expand the frontiers of existing markets for Ghana's non- traditional exports, attract investments and tourism into the country and enhance consular protection and assistance to our compatriots as well as co-ordinate the activities of our diasporan brothers and sisters.

Passport administration programme

260. Mr Speaker, in conformity with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization that all member states replace machine-readable pass- ports with biometric by January 2015, the Ministry expanded its operations at the passports headquarters and established passport application centres in six regions namely, Accra, Kumasi, Tamale, Sekondi- Takoradi, Sunyani and Ho. In 2014, the Ministry will establish application centres in the four remaining regions.

261. Mr Speaker, for the implementa- tion of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢153,953,029 has been allocated. Out of this, GoG is GH¢141,217,551, and GH¢12,735,478 is IGF.

Ministry of Finance

262. The goal of the Ministry is to ensure efficient and effective management of the economy towards the attainment of upper middle income status and poverty reduction. Key achievements for 2013 and outlook for 2014 are as follows:

2013 Performance and outlook for 2014

Economic po l i cy management programme

263. Mr Speaker, to promote credibility

and prudent economic management, the Ministry collected updated data on public investment, commenced the development of the Ghana Public Private Partnership (PPP) law and conducted series of stakeholder consultations for inputs into the law. The Ministry also monitored the financial performance of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Joint Venture Companies (JVCs) and developed a public investment management system to automate the management of project cycle processes across MDAs.

264. In 2014, the Ministry will continue to strengthen the co-ordination and planning of public investment by ensuring efficient and effective management of government investment in SOEs/ JVCs and developing a national public investment policy and regulation. The Ministry will also undertake a comprehensive capacity building programme of MDAs/ SOEs/MMDAs on the development and management of PPP and Public Investment Programme (PIP) as well as on the use of the Public Investment Management System (PIMS) software. In addition, mechanisms will be put in place to establish a Project Development Fund, Infrastructure Facility Fund and a Viability Gap Scheme in order to support the PPP programme.

265. Mr Speaker, in the area of economic statistics, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) produced statistics on inflation rates, construction input costs, gross domestic product and external trade and also updated external trade statistics. In addition, the Service produced social and demographic statistics on population, health, environmental sanitat ion, migration, culture, labour/employment, education and crime/judicial proceedings.

266. In order to strengthen co-ordina- tion and collaboration among statistics

national budget by organizing training workshops to build capacity of PPBMEs of all MDAs on the new budgeting process, preparing and circulating implementation guidelines and analyzing MDAs budget performance.

289. Mr Speaker, the Ministry improved the implementation of MDAs budget by strengthening the cash management system through the institution of weekly revenue and expenditure reconciliations as well as cash flow forecasting meetings in collaboration with the Controller and Accountant-General's Department and the Bank of Ghana. Additionally, the Ministry conducted physical monitoring of government programmes and projects being implemented by the MDAs and issued monthly and expenditure reports. In 2014, commitment control, cash and treasury management systems including the issuance of cash ceiling instructions to MDAs will be strengthened to improve budget implementation.

290. As part of efforts at mainstreaming gender budgeting in the budgeting process, the Ministry conducted extensive gender budgeting training for its staff and staff of some selected MDAs.

291. In 2014, the management of project loans and grants will be streamlined to ensure compliance with the requirements of the FAA and FAR for accounting and reporting.

292. Mr Speaker, the Ministry deployed the Ghana Integrated Financial Manage- ment Information System (GIFMIS) to MDA head offices and regional head offices and also started pilot decentralized payroll printing and processing of selected payroll transactions at four regional centres namely, Western, Volta, Northern and Ashanti. In 2014, the Ministry will deploy the Oracle Fixed Asset module under GIFMIS on a pilot basis to enable

the Controller and Accountant-General's Department take inventory of all public assets and create an assets database.

293. To improve the treasury and payment system, the Ministry started the development of a Document Flow Management System for treasury and administrative operations. This will be completed in 2014.

294. Mr Speaker, the Treasury Single Account (TSA) strategy was implemented to further improve cash forecasting and cash management. In 2014, the TSA strategy will be expanded to cover all government accounts at the Bank of Ghana and the commercial banks to further improve cash forecasting and also reduce bank charges.

295. Mr Speaker, in the year under review, a Business Continuity Plan was developed and Incident Management Team put in place to address any possible disruption in the Department's operations. Also, a Disaster Recovery Site was established to prevent the loss of vital data in case of disaster. To mitigate the risk of disruption of business in the event of ICT system disaster, the Ministry will install IBM SAN routers to facilitate communication between the Department and the Disaster Recovery Site in the coming year.

296. Mr Speaker, the Ministry commenced the development of Electronic Payment Voucher (e-PV) system to improve the management of the IPPD system. Under this system, heads of MDAs will be required to review and certify payroll information online before the payment of salaries. To ensure effective and efficient payroll manage-ment, the Ministry upgraded the current payroll system and launched a Payroll Procedure Manual as well as an Electronic Pay Slip (e-Pay slip) system.

297. In 2014, the Ministry will establish five regional payroll printing centres and 10 regional personnel processing centres to enable MDAs/MMDAs in the regions and districts input data into the payroll system aimed at deletion of names of separated staff and improve the management of the payroll. In addition, training programmes will be organized on accounting, GIFMIS operations, payroll process and procedures and on the use of ICT policy manuals for all MDAs/MMDAs.

298. The development of the e-PV system will be completed, launched and training conducted for users while the upgraded payroll will be integrated with the Oracle Financials for improved budget management.

299. Mr Speaker, the annual accounts for 2012 was completed and submitted to the Auditor-General on schedule. Monthly accounts, which used to be in five months' arrears, are now only two months in arrears.

300. To address the reconciliation challenges of MDA expenditures with the public accounts, the Ministry will restructure and equip the Public Accounts section of the CAGD in 2014 to enable them do monthly reconciliation with the MDA accounts. In addition, a Joint Technical Committee comprising MoF, CAGD, Ghana Revenue Authority and Ghana Audit Service will be constituted to review the monthly and annual public accounts to ensure that the accounts are completed by the statutory time of 15th of the ensuing month.

Public procurement

301. Mr Speaker, the Public Procure-

ment Authority (PPA) developed detailed Contract Management Manuals for goods, works and services and related

training manuals. The Authority also conducted training for 359 officials from 13 institutions in both the public service and the private sectors aimed at building procurement capacity.

302. In addition, the Authority collaborated with the Public Services Commission, Office of the Head of Civil Service, the Local Government Secretariat and other key stakeholders for the implementation of the Scheme of Service for Procurement Practitioners for the establishment of the Procurement Units within the public sector. In 2014, the Authority will continue to work with public service organizations to ensure that procurement units are established for the management of public procurement and existing staff appropriately migrated onto the Procurement Class.

303. Mr Speaker, the Authority will continue with the assessment of the procurement activities of 1,000 entities to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) using an enhanced public procurement model of excellence tool.

304. The Authority continued to update the Price Database for common used items which measures average prices across the country to serve as a guide for entities in their procurement activities, especially value- for- money analysis. In 2014, the Authority will continue to build procurement capacity within the public and private sectors as well as members of ETCs and TRBs on contract management. In addition, the Authority will continue the training of the Attorney-General's Office, the Judicial Service and Members of Parliament.

305. Mr Speaker, the Authority will also complete and implement the review of the Standard Tender Documents to provide framework agreements as well

ment, Legal and Statistics Classes were drafted for validation and finalization.

325. Mr Speaker, based on the 2011 Functional and Organizational Assessment Tool (FOAT) assessment results, funds were allocated and transferred to MMDAs under the District Development Facility and the Urban Development Grant. Also, the FY 2012 FOAT assessment has been conducted and the results are being collated. L o c a l l e v e l d e v e l o p m e n t a n d management programme

326. Mr Speaker, in line with the

Ministry's commitment to local level development and management, 2,853 youth consisting of 682 males and 2,171 females were trained in employable and sustainable skills, while 1,000 passed out with vocational, technical and entrepre- neurial skills. In addition, the Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development Project (GRSCDP) also offered scholarship package for additional 3 females from poor households in each of the 59 beneficiary districts of the

GRSCDP.

327. Furthermore, 534 beneficiaries were trained on various income generating and entrepreneurial skills which imparted on a total membership of 16,643 women, while 56 out of the 120 trainees who received training in community education graduated.

328. Mr Speaker, in pursuance of government's objective to create and maintain green belts in prestige areas and open spaces, maintenance activities were carried out on roundabouts, road medians and road shoulders in our cities and towns. The Ministry continued to implement activities in the area of landscape beautification in our built

environment such as the Flagstaff House, Castle Gardens, Peduase Lodge, State House gardens and all RCC'S gardens.

329. The Department of Parks and Gardens will continue to pursue actions to combat the effects of global warming, by engaging various stakeholders to undertake tree planting. It will also collaborate with MMDA's in the promotion of landscape beautification, develop programmes for floral beautifica-tion, establish public parks in cities and towns; and promote ecotourism to create jobs for the people as well as generate revenue for MMDAs.

330. Mr Speaker, a total of 350,000 tree seedlings were also supplied to various communities, schools and organized groups while the collection of plant species to feed the biodiversity information facility is in progress. In 2014, the conservation of threatened plant species and restoration importance of plant diversity under the Global strategy for plants conservation will be continued.

The Ministry will continue with the collaboration with the Botany Department of the University of Ghana and other stakeholders in the documentation of our national information facility for the sharing of digital biodiversity data.

331. Mr Speaker, the Ministry will organize formal training for 4,000 youth and 6,000 women in vocational and technical skills in income-generating activities. In addition, 120 community educators will be trained at the Rural Development College. The Ministry will also secure accreditation to enable the Rural Development College run diploma programmes. A handbook on community development procedures based on operating standards will also be developed.

Environmental sanitation programme

332. Mr Speaker, the Community Led Total Sanitation Strategy introduced in the Eastern and Brong Ahafo Regions was scaled up to cover 7 regions; and a total of 3,959 tertiary students were deployed under the Ghana Students' Industrial Attachment Programme to carry out sanitation education campaign.

333. To improve environmental sanita-tion and good hygiene practices in both rural and urban communities, the environmental health and sanitation programme will scale up community led total Sanitation activities to all regions in 2014. A results-based M&E system for environmental sanitation to accurately capture, process and analyze data for national statistics will be deployed.

334. Mr Speaker, the University of Ghana sewerage treatment plant and 42 no. 20-seater water closet public Toilets were completed under the Accra sewerage improvement project. In 2014, new sewer networks at Mamprobi, Korle-Gonno and Korle-Bu will be constructed, while sewer networks at University of Ghana, Achimota Hospital, Achimota School and Trinity College will be rehabilitated. A pumping Station at Dansoman Estate will be constructed.

S o c i o - e c o n o m i c i n t e r v e n t i o n programme

335. Mr Speaker, in developing a National School Feeding Policy, Stakeholder consultations were held in the various regions and with NGOs and Parliament. To improve the nutritional intake of pupils, a ration design tool was developed and baseline data collected as part of an impact evaluation of the programme. In 2014, the policy will be launched for implementation and

the ration design tool will be applied to improve the nutritional intake of pupils.

336. Mr Speaker, 15,000 persons were trained in business and entrepreneurship skills under the Local Enterprises and Skills Development Project. In 2014, needs assessment will be undertaken to enable a total of 35,000 beneficiaries nationwide to be recruited and trained in technical, entrepreneurial and business management skills. Business set-up equipment will be provided to beneficiaries.

337. Mr Speaker, a knowledge sharing

workshop on best practices in food security was organized for 75 key partners. Under the onion value chain Improvement sub- project, 2,749 farmers in 8 communities in Bawku West, were supported with 24 onion storage structures. The bulb size of onions increased from 60 to 100 grams by the introduction of new variety (galmin) and improved agronomic practices under this project.

338. Furthermore, the “Zai” method introduced to 715 farmers improved maize production from 3 bags to 8 bags per acre in Builsa, East Gonja, East Mamprusi and Garu-Tempani Districts under the sustainable farming techniques sub-project.

339. In 2014, 200 farmers will benefit from the “Zai” method and other sustainable soil management practices. These farmers will be supported with inputs to increase production whiles dry season farming will be introduced to 10 communities in Builsa, East Gonja, East Mamprusi and Garu-Tempani Districts. Farmers in the Bawku West District will benefit from an improved variety of onions while two communities in the Wa Munici- pality will be introduce to community based cage fish Culture.

Births and deaths registrat ion programme

340. Mr Speaker, the Ministry registered

358. The Ministry covered the Supreme Court hearing on the 2012 election petition and other important national events; and processed more than 60 local and 30 foreign stories as a result of improvement in news gathering. Film and television production training programme

359. Mr Speaker, the Ministry

completed and submitted to Cabinet, Development and Classification of Film Bill which seeks to revise the Cinematography Act, 1961 (Act 76).

360. The National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) turned out 30 students with BFA degrees, increased student in- take by 40 per cent and held the 2013 NAFTI Film Lectures. The Ministry also continued the expansion of infrastructure of the institute in order to turn it into a full-fledged University of Media and Creative Arts.

361. Mr Speaker, to build capacity of the media, the Ministry will commence activities aimed at establishing the Ghana Broadcasting University and continue the transformation of NAFTI into a Media and Creative Arts University in 2014. The Ministry will also continue to brand Ghana abroad, as one of the best investment destinations by publicizing Ghana's democratic and economic achievements and investment opportunities online and in major international journals.

362. Mr Speaker, for the implemen- tation of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢100,120,293 has been allocated. Out of this GoG is GH¢62,385,693 and GH¢37,734,600 is IGF.

National Development Planning Commission

363. Mr Speaker, the National Development Planning Commission has been established to advise the President of the Republic of Ghana (and Parliament upon request) on development policy and strategy, to prepare and ensure the effective implementation of approved national development plans and strategies and co-ordinate economic and social activities country-wide in a manner that will ensure accelerated and sustainable development. Key achievements for 2013 and outlook for 2014 are as follows:

National Development Policy, Planning Monitoring and Evaluation

364. Mr Speaker, the National Develop-

ment Planning Commission prepared a draft vision document to provide a long term framework to guide development planning and strategy for the country. Additionally, a National Long-Term Infrastructure Plan was prepared to address the challenge of inadequate and depreciating infrastructural facilities which constitutes a key obstacle to attaining socio-economic development. This plan served as an input into the National Long-Term Development Plan.

365. The Commission prepared a successor National Medium Term Development Framework (2014 - 2017) to the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA 2010 - 2013). The NDPC also developed planning guidelines for the preparation of both Sector and District Medium-Term Development Plans.

366. Mr Speaker, the Commission monitored the implementation of strategies to achieve the policy objectives in the GSGDA 2010-2013 and reported progress on the core national indicators in the 2012 Annual Progress Report. Additionally, in order to address identified weaknesses in

M&E reporting, a National Monitoring and Evaluation Manual was prepared to assist MDAs and MMDAs improve upon their M&E functions.

367 . In 2014, the National Development Planning Commission will develop a planning model to guide long term development planning, establish special development zones to address peculiar development challenges and finalize the National Long Term Development Policy Framework. In addition, the Commission will prepare the 2013 National Annual Progress Report and the National M&E Plan as well as review the national core indicators to monitor the implementation of National Development Policy Framework.

368. Mr Speaker, for the implementation of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢6,548,479 has been allocated. Out of this, GoG is GH¢6,548,479.

Economic Sector

Ministry of Food and Agriculture

369. Mr Speaker, the Ministry exists to promote sustainable agriculture and thriving agribusiness through research and technology development, effective extension and other support services to farmers, processors and traders for improved livelihood. Key achievements for 2013 and outlook for 2014 are as follows:

2013 Performance and outlook for 2014

370. Mr Speaker, the seeks food security and emergency prepared-ness programme to reduce food and nutrition insecurity through modernized agriculture, management of national strategic stocks

for emergencies and the establishment of effective early warning systems.

371. The Ministry through Ghana Irrigation Development Authority, continued with the construction and rehabilitation works on the Dawa, Ave Afiedenyigba, Tono Phase II, Akomadan, Dawenya, Zuedam/Tankase and Koori irrigation projects. When completed, a total of 640 hectares of irrigable area will be available for cultivation.

372. In 2014, the Government will partner the private sector to continue the rehabilitation of existing irrigation schemes to promote all year round farming. It will also intensify the provision of extension services to farmers. In addition, the Ministry will increase irrigated area to 20,605 hectares, to increase the production of cereals and vegetables to 120,153 metric tons.

373. Mr Speaker, the Ministry procured 100 Cabrio agricultural tractors (50hp) and distributed them on hire purchase to individual vegetable farmers for land preparation. As part of the package, 80 tractor operators in Greater Accra, were trained on effective tillage practices and proper maintenance of the tractors.

374. In addition, 10 mechanical harvesters were acquired and distributed to selected Agricultural Mechanization Services Enterprise Centres (AMSECs) while, a prototype dryer was fabricated to enhance production of high quality cassava flour.

375. Mr Speaker, to increase produc- tivity of food crops as well as selected cash crops, the Ministry developed the National Fertilizer Policy to distribute subsidized fertilizers to farmers. As at the end of September, the Ministry had distributed 142,000 metric tonnes of

fertilizer. In 2014, it will continue the policy by distributing 180,000mt of subsidized fertilizer.

376. As part of the National Seed Policy, the Ministry distributed 2,000mt of maize seeds for cultivation in the major season. In addition, 8,958 farmers comprising 5,480 males and 3,478 females, received planting materials of improved root and tuber crop varieties to plant 1,000 hectares of cassava and sweet potato. As a continuation of the policy, 3,000 metric tons of improved seeds will be distributed in 2014.

377. Mr Speaker, within the framework of the GSGDA, Government has put in place an elaborate plan to exploit our national potential in poultry production.

378. As a result of prudent interventions put in place by government, poultry imports reduced by 12 per cent as at November, 2013. This created room in the market for increase in local production.

379. Mr Speaker, as part of the government's plan to further expand local production, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture will collaborate with Ministry of Trade and Industry to support 100 medium to large scale farmers across the Country on a pilot basis, to deliver 30,000 metric tonnes of poultry products in 2014.

380. The overall objective is to meet 45 per cent of our local poultry meat requirement by 2016. Apart from income generation, this will create 52,000 direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs for the teaming youth.

381. Mr Speaker, the Ministry will continue with its Youth in Agriculture Programme and implement the following activities under the block farm, livestock and poultry and agri-business initiatives:

A total of 45,000 youth will benefit

from the block farm initiative in 2014 and 45,000 hectares is targeted for production of maize, rice, cassava, sorghum and cowpea;

Under the livestock and poultry initiative, a total of 2,500 guinea fowl keets and 5,000 broiler day old chicks will be procured. These will be treated and reared into brood stock. A total of 27 metric tons of broiler feed and 35 metric tons of layer feed will also be procured;

Under the agri-business initiative, pepper and clams farmers/processors will be trained in hygienic handling and packaging in Dangme East and Ga South Districts of Greater Accra Region. For the 2 locations, 8 solar dryers, 3 tent dryers, 6 raised platforms, drums, baskets, 6 fenced working areas, 20 processing trays and 4 switch ovens will be provided.

Increased growth in incomes programme

382. Mr Speaker, the Ministry implemented the guinea fowl project to support 40 farmers with incubators to service 3,600 farmers across the three northern regions. The Ministry also raised and distributed 8,000 cockerels to 500 farmers in 5 regions; while 1,500 were supplied to the National Service Scheme in the Ashanti Region;

383. To increase the productivity of local livestock, the breeding stations produced 1,117 improved stocks of various species of livestock and supplied them to farmers.

384. The Ministry produced and distributed five mill ion doses of Thermostable NDI-2 vaccines to control new castle disease.

385. Mr Speaker, in 2014, this

programme will continue to improve the production of some selected crops and livestock. The targeted outputs are stated in tables 28 and 29 below:

Space for Tables 28/29 - page 83 - 10.55 a.m. Marketing of agricultural produce and products programme

386. Mr Speaker, the Ministry facili- tated the export of some crops including papaya; by controlling pests/diseases, certification and infrastructure provision. To reverse the dwindling volumes of papaya export, three plant houses have been established for mass production of bio-agents. As a result, the new papaya mealy bug has been put under control; to ensure all year round export.

387. Mr Speaker, a total of 1,800 farm- ers and 15 mango farms were selected and certified to export fresh mangoes to Leb- anon. Furthermore, four demonstration centres were established, a temperature controlled pack completed; and a biolog- ical laboratory complex constructed and furnished to improve horticultural crops production.

388. In 2014, the Ministry will improve existing market infrastructure, grading and standardization systems, market

intelligence, and strengthen the capacity of stakeholders along the value chain. Specifically, the Ministry will facilitate the linkage of agro-business firms with small holding farmers, design and launch a market promotion programme for made in Ghana commodities and also facilitate the enforcement of anti-dumping regulations.

Management of land and environment programme

389. Mr Speaker, the promotion of sustainable land management technolo- gies was up-scaled during the period as a major vehicle for addressing climatic change effects in the savannah zone. Over 5,000 farmers in 8 districts have been trained and 400 supported to implement land management technologies in their farming activities.

390. Mr Speaker, the existing en- viron-ment and climate change unit and regional environment desks will be strengthened to coordinate climate change adaptation in 2014. In this regard 80 districts will be targeted and a grants scheme established for sustainable land and environment management to benefit 800 service providers and adopters.

Science and technology in food and agricultural development programme

391. Mr Speaker, in line with this

programme objective, the Ministry will rehabilitate and equip 3 out of the 5 national agricultural research stations, to ensure the availability of quality and certified planting materials all-year-round at affordable prices.

392. Under Government's Accelerated Agricultural Modernization Policy, the Ministry will continue to address the challenges confronting the mechanization of agriculture, along the value chain; by

implementing the following interventions:

Facilitate the expansion of coverage of private sector led Agricultural Mechanization Services Enter- prise Centres (AMSECs) to 148 MMDAs;

Develop the skilled man power to handle, manage and maintain farm power machinery/equipment as well as locally fabricate simple tools and parts for the machinery; Intensify the use of animal traction and intermediate means of transport by smallholder farmers operating on fragile soils;

Promote the use of dryers for grains and vegetables as well as super grain bags for storage.

Cocoa

393. Mr Speaker, cocoa continued to play its pivotal role in the development of the economy, especially in rural de- velopment. Government continued to implement policy initiatives that ensured efficiency and contributed effectively to the growth in the cocoa sector. The promotion of cocoa consumption and uti- lization of cocoa products was intensified during the year through the creation of the national committee for the promotion of cocoa consumption.

Cocoa purchases

394. Mr Speaker, for the 2013/14 crop year, an amount of US$1.2 billion was raised in the syndicated loan market, as compared to the US$1.3 billion drawn during the 2012/13 cocoa season. This is to facilitate the implementation of pro- grammes and activities during the current cocoa crop season.

395. Mr Speaker, Government main- tained the producer price of dried cocoa beans at GH¢3,392 per tonne. This trans- lates into GH¢212 per bag of 64 kilogram gross weight and represents 79.17 per cent of the net Free-on-Board (FoB) price. This was done, despite the drastic fall in the international price of the commodity

396. Mr Speaker, given the continued fall in the price of cocoa beans on the world market, Government decided to sacrifice about 62 per cent of its share (export tax) of the F.O.B. to maintain the producer price paid to the farmer. This shows Government's commitment to the non-oil sector, since cocoa has been the backbone of this country's economy for over a century.

397. Government through COCOBOD continued with the cocoa Hi-Tech and CODAPEC programmes in the 2012/2013 cocoa season. The focus of the Hi-Tech programme was to encourage fertilizer application and the use of improved planting materials by farmers. The CODA- PEC programme was to mitigate the risk associated with the incidence of disease (black pod) and pests (capsid) that attack cocoa. In 2014, Government will contin- ue to support cocoa farmers through the mass spraying exercise to control pests and diseases.

398. Mr Speaker, the seed Production Unit of COCOBOD also supplied early maturing and certified high yielding planting materials to cocoa farmers to ensure high productivity. Government will continue with the replanting and rehabilitation of cocoa farms in addition to providing planting materials that are drought tolerant, early bearing and high yielding. In the 2013/2014 crop season, Government will supply 20 million free seedlings to farmers.

Cocoa Farmers Housing Scheme

399. Mr Speaker, with the support of Government, COCOBOD continued the implementation of the Cocoa Farmers

Housing Scheme which was initiated in 2004. An amount of GH¢838,000.00 was made available in 2013/2014 cocoa year to the Department of Rural Housing for the construction of houses for farmers.

Scholarship to farmers' wards

400. Mr Speaker, COCOBOD con- tinued to provide financial assistance to cocoa farmers in the form of scholarships for their wards. A total of 7,500 wards benefited from the scheme.

Corporate social responsibility

401. Mr Speaker, COCOBOD, as part of its corporate social responsibility, com- missioned a state of the art medical facility at Debiso, a cocoa growing community in the Western Region, to improve the welfare and livelihoods of the farming communities.

402. Government through COCOBOD organized a stakeholders forum to review all aspects of the cocoa supply chain to ensure efficiency and reduce operational costs. In 2014, the national programme for the elimination of worst forms of child labour in cocoa growing areas will continue to support the sensitization and educational programme to reduce the in- cidence of worst forms of child labour in cocoa production.

403. Government will launch the co- coa sector scenario planning exercise in the 2013/2014 cocoa year to take stock of the sector and map its plausible future trajectory in order to identify priority inter- ventions. In addition, the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana and the private sector will be encouraged to continue with activ- ities that lead to the utilization of products from cocoa, sheanuts and cashew.

Coffee and shea

404. Mr Speaker, Government through COCOBOD will continue with the re- planting and rehabilitation of coffee farms, in addition to providing planting materials that are drought tolerant, early bearing and high yielding. COCOBOD will continue to fund the shea unit as part of its efforts aimed at promoting the production of shea nuts as main cash crop for farmers in the North. Management of land and environment programme

405. Mr Speaker, the promotion of sus- tainable land management technolo-gies was up-scaled during the period, as a ma- jor vehicle for addressing climatic change effects in the savannah zone. Over 5,000 farmers in 8 districts were trained and 400 supported to implement land management technologies in their farming activities.

406. Mr Speaker, the existing environ- ment and climate change unit and regional environment desks will be strengthened to coordinate climate change adaptation in 2014. In this regard, 80 districts will be targeted and a grants scheme established for sustainable land and environment man- agement to benefit 800 service providers and adopters.

Science and technology in food and agricultural development

407. Mr Speaker, to create enabling conditions for regional cooperation in technology generation and dissemination, the Veterinary Services Directorate pro- duced five million thermostable NDI-2 vaccines to control newcastle diseases in poultry. So far two million doses of NDI- 2 vaccines are ready for supply to Niger while 850,000 doses of vaccines were ad- ministered in seven regions of the country.

408. Mr Speaker, the Ministry will re- habilitate and equip 3 out of the 5 national agricultural research stations to ensure the availability of quality and certified

planting materials all-year-round at affordable prices.

409. Under Government's Accelerated Agricultural Modernization Policy, the Ministry will continue to address the challenges confronting the mechanization of agriculture, along the value chain; by implementing the following interventions:

Facilitate the expansion of coverage of private sector led Agricultural Mechanization Services Enterprise Centres (AMSECs) to 148 MMDAs;

Develop the skilled man power to handle, manage and maintain farm power machin- ery/equipment as well as locally fabricate simple tools and parts for the machinery;

Intensify the use of animal traction and intermediate means of transport by small-

holder farmers operating on fragile soils;

Promote the use of dryers for grains and vegetables as well as super grain bags for storage.

410. For the implementation of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢306,891,987 has been al- located. Out of this, GH¢73,768,336 is GOG, GH¢52,180,591 is ABFA, GH¢178,767,140 is DP Funds and GH¢2,175,920 is IGF.

Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development

411. Mr Speaker, the Ministry exists to promote sustainable fisheries and aquacul-

ture through research, technical support services, regulations, institutional building for co-management and stakeholders' participation, provision of statistical and economic intelligence information, and the active promotion of livelihood im- provement in fishing communities. Key achievements for 2013 and outlook for 2014 are as follows: 2013 Performance and outlook for 2014

Fisheries resources management pro- gramme

412. Mr Speaker, this budget pro- gramme seeks to ensure sustainable ex- ploitation of the fisheries resources, both marine and inland, to guarantee production of fish for food security and nutrition of the populace as well as safeguard employment along the fisheries value chain

413. Mr Speaker, the site for the pro- posed Fisheries College at Anomabo to train and enhance the technical skills of the major stakeholders in the industry was cleared for work to commence. In 2014, the construction of structures for phase one consisting of hostels, administration block, laboratories and lecture halls will commence.

414. The Ministry commissioned the construction of the Turnkey Fish Pro- cessing Factory at Elmina in the Central Region and completed the construction of cold stores in Prampram, Half Assini, Shama, Komansti and Nyanyano.

415. Mr Speaker, the Ministry will facilitate the implementation of the Fisher- men Life Insurance Scheme, to transfer the risk of liability, resulting from the payment of compensation in the event of accidents in the coastal and lake fishing communities to the private sector. It is envisaged that 200,000 fishermen will have an insurance cover over life, canoes, outboard motors and fishing net at the end of the year.

Aquaculture development programme

416. Mr Speaker, the Ministry prepared and launched the Ghana National Aqua- culture Development Plan, to increase aquaculture production from 27,000 metre tonnes in 2012 to 100,000 metre tonnes by 2016 in order to meet the national fish requirement and reduce the reliance on marine and inland capture fisheries.

417. Mr Speaker, in 2014, the Min- istry will develop policy and regulatory frameworks as well as administrative systems, to support effective allocation of aquaculture rights and administration. The Ministry will also strengthen the capacity of aquaculture associations to provide business advisory services for existing and

potential investors in medium and large scale aquaculture ventures.

418. In addition, the Ministry will develop various profitable fish farming production modules, as basis for providing credit to small-scale starter farmers. It will also support the entry and growth of new small-scale individuals and investors with profitable business plans into the aquaculture sector. An extension unit will be established and equipped to provide technical services to fish farmers.

Monitoring, control and surveillance programme

419. Mr Speaker, the Ministry set up a committee to investigate fishing mal- practices and sanctioned 10 tuna fishing companies for engaging in illegal, unre- ported and unregulated fishing practices. In collaboration with the EU, the Ministry developed a road map for improving pro- cesses for industrial fisheries operations.

420. The Ministry also inaugurated a National Steering Committee, to oversee the establishment of the Fisheries Enforce- ment Unit and identified Tema, Takoradi, KpandoTorkor and Yeji fisheries offices for rehabilitation and retooling.

421. Mr Speaker, the Fisheries En- forcement Unit will be formally estab- lished and strengthened to efficiently and effectively carry out its duties in respect to combating illegal fishing through land, sea and air surveillance and equip fisher- ies enforcement unit offices at Takoradi, Tema, KpandoTorkor and Yeji.

422. The Fisheries Act of 2002, Fish- eries Regulations 2010 (L.I. 1968) and the structure of the Fisheries Commission will be reviewed to support the legal and functional reforms expected in the fish- eries sector.

Fish health and post-harvest manage-

ment programme

423. Mr Speaker, in order to mini- mize outbreaks and spread of diseases, 17 farms and hatcheries were visited and appropriate guidance given on aquacul- ture, fish health and sanitary practices. Investigations into deaths of aquatic organisms in the Volta River between the Akosombo and Kpong Dams, fish kill in the Densu delta near Panbros Salt Limited and allegations of chemical use for fish preservation by operators, were undertak- en by the Fish Health Unit. The Unit will continue inspection and education duties along the coast.

424. Mr Speaker, the Ministry will continue the construction of the Turnkey Fish Processing Plant at Elmina, which consists of 40 chilled cubicles with dis- play units, cold storage rooms of 100 metric tons capacity, blast freezers, two ice making plants and a waste processing plant to improve the value and profitability of fish landed.

425. For the implementation of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢128,615,836 has been allocated. Out of this, GH¢15,243,703 is GoG, GH¢84,240,168 is ABFA, GH¢22,507,706 is DP funds and GH¢6,624,260 is IGF.

Ministry of Lands and Natural Re- sources

426. The Ministry exists to formulate policies to address the degradation of natural resources and ensure the effec- tive and efficient management of these resources for sustainable development. Key achievements for 2013 and outlook for 2014 are as follows:

2013 Performance and Outlook for 2014

Land administration and management programme

427. Mr Speaker, the Ministry com- pleted comprehensive needs assessment of the land sector agencies, customary lands secretariat and civil society coalition on lands aimed at developing a capacity building strategy and a three-year human resource development plan under the Land Administration Project (LAP).

428. The Ministry completed a new policy on National Spatial Data Infra- structure, aimed at reducing duplication and cost among agencies and improving the quality and generation of geographic information. A National Survey and Map- ping Policy document which provides the context, direction, guidelines and actions for mapping the entire country was also developed.

429. Mr Speaker, a pre-trial manual including the application of Written Witness Statement and ADR, with the collaboration of the Judicial Service was developed under the Land Administration Project. In addition, the installation of in- telligent scanning equipment to speed up the scanning of all manual records and a framework and action plan for the sorting and consolidating of all land records was completed.

430. Mr Speaker, the Ministry will fa- cilitate the passage of the Land and Land Use Planning Acts, refurbish and automate selected courts in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ta- male and Kumasi and promote the review of policies on land related fees and taxes. In addition, the Land Title Registry will be assisted to clear backlog of applications for land registration in Accra and improve customary land administration through the establishment of 10 customary land secretariats.

Forestry and wildlife development and management programme

431. Mr Speaker, the Ministry con- tinued the forest plantation development programme. The Forestry Commission

is implementing the Accra Eco-Park Development Project as a major ecotour- ism destination, to provide Accra with a nature-based recreational facility and also improve the protection and ecological integrity of the forest.

432. The Ministry will continue the implementation of the National Planta- tions Development Programme, in order to develop a sustainable resource base that will satisfy the future demand for indus- trial timber and enhance environmental quality. To this end, 49,639 ha of existing plantations will be maintained.

433. Mr Speaker, the forest and wild- life resources of Ghana have come under intense encroachment and destruction, especially in forest reserves and wild- life protected areas. Illegal settlements, farming, poaching, mining and chainsaw operations are the key threats to these reserves. The Ministry will therefore re- source five additional forestry protection teams to cover other forest reserves in the country. It will also continue to promote the development of eco-tourism, by im- plementing concession agreement for the construction of ecolodges in Mole and Kakum National Parks.

Mineral resource development and management programme

434. Mr Speaker, following the es- tablishment of the Inter-Ministerial Task Force under the directive of H.E. the Pres- ident, to flush out illegal mining activities, about 5,000 foreigners engaged in illegal small scale mining were deported. To ensure effective policing by the District Security Committees, a new reporting for- mat was developed by the Minerals Com- mission to report illegal mining activities

435. In support of small scale mining, the Ministry is currently undertaking ge- ological exploration of 349 sq.kilometres

in seven different geographical areas of the country to identify mineralized areas for small scale miners. Exploration at Japa in the Western Region proved viable and mineral concessions are being acquired by small scale miners.

436. Mr Speaker, in compliance with the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, (Act 703), District Mining Committees were formed and inaugurated in some mining areas to assist in the management of small scale mining.

437. In 2014, the Ministry will contin- ue to provide the necessary platform for transparent engagement of all stake-hold- ers in order to promote harmony in the mining sector. To this end, it will facilitate the establishment of a small scale mining competency training centre at University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, to offer training to small-scale miners in proper mining practices.

438. Mr Speaker, to promote Alter- native Livelihood Projects in mining communities based on the success of the Prestea-Huni Valley Pilot Oil Palm Plan- tation Project, another 23,000 acres of oil palm plantation is being established in the Dunkwa-Ayanfuri area of the Central Region. To this end, a 300,000 oil palm nursery was established.

439. Mr Speaker, fiscal mine models on both macro and micro levels to improve mining sector revenue collection, man- agement and transparency was developed and a multi-agency revenue task force established to enhance cooperation and collaboration among revenue agencies and the Minerals Commission.

Land and maritime boundary man- age-ment programme

440. Mr Speaker, the Ghana Bound- ary Commission met the deadline for the submission to the United Nations Commission for the extension of the

tural production, water and sanitation, rural electrification, road construction and housing.
To enhance mango production, the Council will provide grafted mango seed- lings and certified planting materials to farmers and other stakeholders and train them on good agricultural practices for increased productivity.
516. Mr Speaker, the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) upgraded the Space Science Technology Centre into an institute and commenced work to convert the 32-metre dish communication antenna (Satellite) at Kuntunse into a radio telescope for more socioeconomic use. Work on the conversion will continue into the medium term.
517. Mr Speaker, GAEC will intensify public sensitisation on using the Gam- ma Irradiation Facility (GIF) to reduce post-harvest losses and seek to upgrade the capacity of GIF to facilitate this goal. Ster- ilisation of medical items for the health industry will also be improved to speed up service delivery across the country.
Environmental protection and manage- ment programme
518. Mr Speaker, the Ministry un- der-took a review of the coastal zone sanitation programme, restructured it and put in place a monitoring system to ensure efficient implementation in the four (4) coastal regions. The national climate change policy has been approved by cabinet and the draft strategies for the implementation of the policy are currently being validated with relevant stake-hold- ers to pave way for the implementation of the policy. The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), with assistance from the Min- istry of Finance has entered into a public private partnership with Apex-PCCL to
start a motor vehicle emission testing in Ghana. The emission standards are being finalised for testing of motor vehicles to start in 2014.
519. Mr Speaker, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continued to monitor air quality indicators for PM10 (Particulate Matter) along the 30kilometre Bus Rapid Transit stations at Graphic Road, Kaneshie First Light, Mallam Junction, Weija and Kasoa. In 2014, the Agency will continue to monitor and ana- lyse air quality indicators from industries/ hotels in the Accra-Tema metropolis for effective compliance.
520. Under the AKOBEN programme, which complements the EIA process and serves as a monitoring and verification programme to ensure that companies follow environmental regulations on a continual basis, the EPA enlisted and trained 50 new companies.
521. Mr Speaker, the Ghana Envi- ronmental Management Project, which has the objective to reverse loss of soil fertility, land degradation and erosion, as well as loss of vegetative land-cover, has implemented 74 sub-projects to improve community livelihoods in the three north- ern regions of Ghana.
Spatial planning and human settlement programme
522. Mr Speaker, the Town and Coun- try Planning Department prepared two planning schemes for the 80 MW power plant enclave in Anochie, in the Ellembele District to guide spatial location of invest- ments and coordinate sectoral initiatives in the area. Street addressing was also completed in Bogoso, Tarkwa, Bibiani and Sefwi-Wiawso.
523. In 2014, the Department will pre- pare a National Spatial Development Plan, as well as a number of planning schemes
for selected oil and gas project enclaves in the country. The Department will also continue to pursue the passage of the Land Use and Spatial Planning Bill into law. This law will harmonise and regulate the laws on land use and spatial planning and ensure the judicious use of land in order to improve quality of life.
Furthermore, to help improve the investment climate in Ghana, the Depart- ment will review the building permitting process and reduce the turn-around time for building permitting from an average of seven months to one month.
524. For the implementation of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢245,955,307 has been allocat- ed. Out of this, GH¢162,015,713 is GoG, GH¢40,797,873 is DP Funds and GH¢43,141,720 is IGF.
Ministry of Energy and Petroleum
525. Mr Speaker, the Ministry exists to develop and ensure reliable high quality energy services at the minimum cost to all sectors of the economy through the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of energy sector policies. Key achievements for 2013 and outlook for 2014 are as follows:
2013 Performance and outlook for 2014
Power generation, transmission and distribution programme
526. Mr Speaker, in line with Govern- ment's objective towards achieving 5,000 MW generation capacity by 2016, the 132 MW combined cycle Takoradi T3 Plant was completed. In addition, two out of 4 generating units of the Bui Hydro Project were commissioned to generate 266 MW into the national grid at peak periods. This has reduced the degree of power curtailment in the country and stabilised the voltage supply. Construction works for the expansion of the 110 MW T2 Aboadze
Plant was commenced.
527. In 2014, the Ministry will add an additional 342 MW to the expected installed capacity of 2,845.5 MW by com- pleting the first phase of 220 MW Kpone Thermal Power Plant (KTPP), 11 MW T2 (Tico Expansion) and VRA 12 MW Solar PV project.
528. Mr Speaker, works on the fol- lowing transmission improvement pro- jects are at various stages of completion; Tumu-Han-Wa Transmission System 24 percent, Wa substation 50 percent, Tumu substation 7 per cent, Wa-Han line 25 per cent and Han-Tumu line 5 per cent. The Bulk Supply Point at Adjiringanno in Accra, expansion works in Tafo and the construction of 2X26 MVA, 33 kV pri- mary substation at Accra North Industrial Area were completed to meet the growing demand for power and enhance reliability of supply in various locations.
529. Mr Speaker, to enhance power transmission in the energy sector, Gov- ernment would complete the 161 kV, Tu- mu-Han-Wa transmission project. There are plans to further improve transmission under the 330 KV transmission lines from Prestea-Kumasi, Tamale-Bolga and 161 kV Kpando-Kadjebi transmission projects.
530. In order to improve power distri- bution systems for efficient service deliv- ery, the following projects were completed under the Ghana Energy Development and Access Project (GEDAP):
5 no. 33/11 kV primary stations with associated 33 and 11KV feeders in Accra and Tema;
433 communities in ECG opera- tional area with 62,128 customers connected under grid intensification package.
495 communities in ECG opera- tional area with 54,722 customers

connected under Grid extension project;

149 communities in NEDCo oper- ational area with 20,000 customers connected.

531. Mr Speaker, to address the chal- lenges facing power distribution in the country, including distribution losses reduction, the following on-going projects will be completed to enhance the distribu- tion system:

The construction of ECG 33/11 kV primary sub-stations at Fawode, Achiase, New Dansoman and Any- inam in Ashanti Region;

The construction of a new Bulk Supply Point at Tema (Smelter II);

The installation of 70,000 split-pre- paid meters to replace credit meters within ECG's system and the supply and installation of a Commercial Management System for ECG.

Under the replacement of credit with prepaid meter programme, 2,309 out of 2,912 credit meters have been replaced with prepaid meters in the ECG area of operation, representing 80 per cent. In the NEDCo area of operation 2,157 out of 3,447 credit meters have been replaced with prepaid meters, representing 63 per cent

532. Mr Speaker, the implementation of projects under the National Electrifi- cation Scheme in line with the objective and achieving universal access by 2016 was stepped up in 2013. Works on the following projects are at various stages of completion:

110 communities out of a target of 467 in all regions under SHEP 4 were completed and connected to the national grid, while 54 commu- nities are ready to be commissioned and connected to the grid. The remaining 303 communities are at various stages of completion.

Works are currently ongoing in 302 communities under the Upper West Electrification Project. Works in 93 communities in Wa Municipal, Wa West District and Wa East District were connected to the national grid. Customer service connections are ongoing in 62 communities in Lam- bussie and Sissala West Districts. Works in 147 communities in the Nadowli East, Lawra, Sissala West and Jirapa Districts were completed and ready for inauguration.

Works in 129 communities are on-going under the Northern Re- gional Electrification Project for 500 communities, 12 communities in the Karaga, Mion and two com- munities in the East Mamprusi Dis- tricts were connected to the national grid. Works in 42 communities in the Nanton, Tolon, Kumbungu, Ta- male South, Tamale North, Sawla/ Tuna-Kalba and Savelugu Districts were also completed and are ready for inauguration. Customer service connections are ongoing in 43 communities in the East Mamprusi, Bole, Nanumba South, Nanumba North, Bunkpurugu, Gushiegu, Zabzugu, East Gonja and Kpandai Districts.

Stringing of High Tension and Low Tension networks are ongoing in 123 communities under the Up- per East Regional Electrification Project.

As part of Government programme to extend power to 600 communi- ties in the Ashanti, Central, Great- er Accra, Volta, Western, Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions, 121 communities were connected to the national grid.

533. Mr Speaker, the Ministry plans to increase access to electricity from the current level of 75 to 80 per cent in 2014 by scaling up the implementation of rural electrification project in the three northern regions to bring them up to the national average. Under the “Energy for all Pro- grammes” a total of 1,385 communities will be connected to the national grid through the SHEP and GEDAP projects in the medium-term.

534. In 2014, the following interven- tions will be undertaken:

A total of 92 communities in the Upper West, 143 communities in the Northern Region, 125 communities in the Upper East, 130 communities in the Ashanti, Central, Greater Accra, Volta, Western, Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions will be con- nected under the SHEP.

While a total of 130 communi- ties will also be connected under GEDAP Grid Extension package in the Central Region.

Petroleum development programme

535. Mr Speaker, in line with Govern- ment's commitments to developing the petroleum sector, the plan of development for upcoming fields, Tweneboa, Enyera and Ntomme with estimated recoverable reserves of 245 mmbls of oil and 365 bcf of gas, was reviewed and approved. Appraisal activities for the Sankofa East

and Gye Nayme were completed and commerciality declared for both oil and non-associated gas resources. In 2014, the main focus under the upstream petro- leum subsector will be to attain peak oil production of 120,000 barrels of oil per day in the Jubilee Field.

536. Mr Speaker, a gas pricing policy was developed and approved by Govern- ment to provide a framework for pricing of natural gas including Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and an LNG infrastructure de- velopment project was initiated. In 2014, a framework will be put in place to provide a basis for construction, operation and maintenance of LNG facility in Ghana, to meet anticipated shortfalls in gas supplies for power generation.

537. The 3 components of the Gas In- frastructure Project, consisting of offshore and onshore pipelines are 95 and 90 per cent complete respectively while the gas processing plant is 55 per cent complete.

538. Mr Speaker, the draft Petrole- um Exploration and Production Bill to regulate development, production and utilisation of the country's hydrocarbon resources was submitted to Cabinet for approval whiles a Legislative Instrument on local content and local participation in petroleum activities was laid in Parliament for consideration.

Renewable energy development pro- gramme

539. Mr Speaker, to facilitate the sec- tor's objective of increasing the proportion of renewable energy in the national energy mix from the current 0.01 per cent to 10 per cent by 2020, a number of projects were undertaken in the following areas:

540. A 2 MW VRA solar system at Navrongo and 176 other solar systems

563. Mr Speaker, to reduce the per- ennial flooding and safeguard life and property, the Hydrological Services De- partment constructed various storm water concrete drainage systems at Sakaman, Nima, Goaso, Salaga, Sakumono-Lashibi and Bolgatanga. The Department contin- ued with the routine maintenance of the lower and upper sections of the Korle Lagoon and Odaw stream under the Ac- cra Sanitary Sewer and Storm Drainage Alleviation Project.
564. The Department will continue with the routine maintenance of the lower and upper sections of the Korle Lagoon to bring life into the ecosystem. It will also commence construction works on the drainage systems at Ashaiman, Adenta, Swedru, Winneba, Ejura, Tepa, Asankra- gua, Kumawu, and Tamale.
565. Mr Speaker, the Department also completed protective works on the 500m and 1,000m stretch of armour rock revetment at Sakumono and Ngyiresia Coastlines respectively. The construc- tion of 500m of armouur rock groyne at Atorkor-Dzita-Anyanui and 4 armour Rock Groynes to protect 3,000m of Ada coastlines were completed.
566. The Hydrological Services De- partment will continue the coastal pro- tection works at Atorkor-Dzita-Anyanui (phase III) shoreline, Ada, Sakumono, Amanful-Kumah, Aboadze and Ngyiresia.
567. Mr Speaker, the Hydrological Services Department sustained the chan- nel opening, widening and deepening of drains at flood-prone areas at Adenta, Katamanso, Sowutuom, Trassaco Valley, Nima, Okpoi-Gonnor, Martey-Tsuru,
Madina Maye-Hot, Gbawe, Lapaz, New Ashongman, Nsakyie, Israel, Danfa,Tema New-Town, Hohoe, Dzorwulu, Dawhen- ya, Achimota, Amanfro, Taifa, Ashiyie, Agbogba, Nungua and Teshie, all within the Accra- Tema Metropolis, other region- al capitals such as Aboabo in Kumasi, Anaji in Sekondi-Takoradi and Cape Coast as well as in selected district capitals such as Kasoa, Ashaiman, Ada, Kpando, Ho- hoe, Kwabeng and New Edubiase.
568. The Department will continue to sustain the channel opening, widening and deepening of most drains at flood prone areas within the Accra-Tema Metropolis and other regional and district capitals to reduce the perennial flooding. It will also continue the construction of various prioritised storm water concrete drain- age systems at Sakaman, Nima, Goaso, Ejura, Madina, Adenta, Teshie, Nungua, Kasoa, Tema, Kpone, Haatso, Dome, Taifa, Kwabenya, Darkuman, Kpandu, Ho, Tamale, et cetera. to improve upon the environment and to protect life and property.
569. Mr Speaker, for the implemen- tation of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢531,389,023 has been allocated. Out of this, GoG is providing GH¢89,718,844, GH¢6,023,120 is IGF and DP Funds is GH¢435,647,058
Ministry of Roads and Highways
570. Mr Speaker, the Ministry exists to provide an integrated, efficient, cost-ef- fective and sustainable road transport system responsive to the needs of society, supporting growth and poverty reduction and capable of establishing and maintain- ing Ghana as a transportation hub of West Africa. Key achievements for 2013 and outlook for 2014 are as follows:
2013 Performance and outlook for 2014
Road construction programme
571. Mr Speaker, the Ministry contin- ued to improve major road corridors to promote trade and economic activities. A total of 103 kilometres of development works including reconstruction, con- struction and upgrading were undertaken against a target of 75 kilometres which represents 138 per cent while 13 bridges out of 30 on the feeder road network were completed.
572. Significant progress was also made on the following road projects.
Table 30: Road Projects - PAGE
118 - 10.55A.M.
573. Mr Speaker, in 2014, the Minis- try will construct 300kilometres of trunk roads, 90kilometres of rural roads and 150km of urban roads. It will also under- take 8 engineering studies and construct 12 trunk, 20 rural and 2 urban bridges as part of the development of key road corridors.
574. In 2014, construction of the fol- lowing roads most of which are already in the pipeline will continue: Tetteh Quarshie-Madina; Asankragwa-Enchi;

575. Mr Speaker, the following projects are also scheduled for implementation in 2014: Agona Nkwanta-Dixcove; Busuta Junction-Busuta; Princess Junction- Prin- cess Town; Sankor Junction-Cape Three Points; and the Mpataba Junction-Half Assini-Jewi Wharf roads. In addition, works on the area wide intelligent traffic system in Accra and improvement of the La Beach Road in Accra will continue.

576. Mr Speaker, the Ministry com- menced the use of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for the financing, construction and management of road infrastructure. A consultant was procured to undertake feasibility study on the du- alisation of the Accra-Takoradi road. The PPP contract for the financing, design and construction of an overpass on the Motor- way at Teshie Link is ongoing.

577. In 2014, the following road pro- jects will be considered under the PPP arrangement:

Accra-Tema Motorway rehabilita- tion and expansion.

Accra- Kumasi dualisation.

Western Corridor roads Phase 1(Elubo-Sunyani)

Road rehabilitation and maintenance programme

578. Mr Speaker, the Ministry un- der-took routine and periodic maintenance activities on 5,819 kilometres of trunk; 3,400 kilometres of feeder, and 1,193 kilometres of urban road networks. In addition, periodic maintenance activities comprising re-gravelling, spot improve- ment and resealing works were carried out on 21 kilometres, 374 kilometres and 13 kilometres on the trunk, feeder and urban road networks respectively.

security of data on the entire network. It is expected that the project will provide high- speed connectivity throughout the country to support entrepreneurial development and enhance job creation.
594. The e-Government Platform Project is upgrading existing World Wide Interoperability Microwave Access (WIMAX) sites to Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology. This will cover 90 sites to enable the deployment of advanced ICT Applications in education, health, commerce, open Government and other business opportunities.
595. Mr Speaker, the rollout of the e-Government Infrastructure is being extended to cover all the districts. It has deployed 30 New Base Stations, expanded the optic fibre in Accra considerably and rolled out a Secondary Data Centre in Kumasi.
596. Mr Speaker, e-Services for Web Content Management, e-Forms and Doc- ument Work Flow and online Payments were developed on a pilot basis as a shared service for 12 MDAs, including: Passport Office, DVLA, FDB, Ghana Tourist Au- thority, Ghana Police Service, Births and Deaths Registry, AMA, NIA, NCA and Minerals Commission.
597. Mr Speaker, as part of the US$97 million e-Transform project, the Ministry will support the National Identification Authority to complete the implementation and deployment of a well-functioning unique national biometric ID system. It will support the distribution of 12 million biometric cards, including 3 million cards already printed and 9 million cards to be printed once citizen data is confirmed. To improve the speed and reduce the cost of distribution of cards, mobile registration workstations, mobile verification systems and related software will be deployed.
598. The issuance of an authentic unique national biometric ID system will further open up opportunities for e-com- merce, enhance law enforcement and sys- tematically end the multiple identification systems which exist currently.
599. Mr Speaker, the Ministry of Communications is collaborating with the Rockefeller Foundation to refurbish the old PWD warehouses near Kwame Nkru- mah Circle into a Grade A facility as a fast track solution to meet urgent real estate needs of the business process outsourcing industry. The Centre will provide leased spaces for business process outsourcing software development, IT training and other IT services. It will provide infra- structure and business support services designed to assist BPOs small and medium ICT businesses to maximise their potential for growth and job creation.
600. Government is migrating televi- sion broadcasting from analogue to digital mode in line with ITU's prescriptions. The benefits include near nationwide reach for television services, better picture and sound quality. Prospective investors in TV stations will be spared the initial heavy investments which are associated with analogue television broadcasting. Digital dividend will also accrue to the nation as a result of high spectrum efficiency.
601. As part of the proposed conform- ance regime for digital terrestrial televi- sion receivers, the Digital Broadcasting Migration Committee published the minimum requirements for receivers of free to air digital terrestrial television in Ghana. Modalities for the reclassification of FM broadcasting stations and amend- ment of regulatory and spectrum fees were completed.
602. Mr Speaker, to facilitate commu- nication within the Public Sector as part of

Government's efforts to improve productivity, and make the public service more responsive to the needs of the citizenry, phase II of the Global Open Trunking Architecture (GOTA) communication network will construct 270 base stations and provide 200,000 handsets to enhance the performance of the existing areas and also provide seamless services all over the country.

603. Specifically, Upper East, Upper West, Northern and BrongAhafo Regions which did not benefit from the project under phase I have been adequately catered for. The existing networks within Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern, Volta, Central and Western Regions will be enhanced.

604. Mr Speaker, for the implementation of the above programmes, an amount

of GH¢93,988,899 has been allocated. Out of this GoG is proving GH¢11,214,382, GH¢1,780,220 is IGF and DP Funds is GH¢80,994,297.

Ministry of Transport

605. The Ministry exists to create an integrated, modally complementary, cost effec-

tive, safe, secure, sustainable and seamless transportation system responsive to the needs of society, supporting growth and poverty reduction and capable of estab- lishing Ghana as a transport hub of West Africa.

Key achievements for 2013 and out- look for 2014 are as follows:

2013 Performance and outlook for 2014

Management and administration pro- gramme

606. Mr Speaker, the Ministry pursued its policy of encouraging private sector participation in the aviation industry

which resulted in competitive domestic aviation service delivery.

607. The KIA-Phase III rehabili- tation project is 47 per cent complete. The feasibility study and design for the expansion of the KIA terminal building was completed while work is ongoing on additional parking bay for 8 wide-body aircraft to address the inadequate parking space at the airside during peak periods. The construction of a 7-storey Ghana Avi- ation Training Academy (GATA) complex building is about 80 per cent complete. This will provide the training needs in the aviation subsector in the country and the sub region.

608. Mr Speaker, in 2014, the KIA
Terminal Building Expansion project will continue in order to provide a new enlarged departure hall, a concourse build- ing to accommodate 6 new boarding gates with holding rooms, boarding bridges, re- tail and concession spaces, airline lounges, expanded halls for arrival, immigration and baggage claim area.
609. Mr Speaker, rehabilitation works on the asphaltic overlay of the runway at the Kumasi Airport is 25 per cent com- plete and an ultra-modern Instrument Landing System is being installed to aid safe landing. The runway will be extended from 1,981metres to 2,500 metres and the installation of Aeronautical Ground Lighting will continue in 2014 to make night operations possible.
610. Preparatory works on the upgrade of the Tamale Airport as an alternate to KIA is ongoing, and actual construction works will begin in the first quarter of 2014 while a master plan for development of the new airport will also be prepared. When completed, the airport will be the obvious choice for the countries from the Sahel belt, help move the SADA project to a new level, as well as making the annual Hajj Pilgrimage for our Moslem brothers and sisters a very exciting one.
611. The year 2014 will witness the preparation of the master plan for the de- velopment of the new regional airports for the remaining regions, namely, the Volta, Eastern, Upper East and the Central Re- gions. Refurbishment of existing regional airports will also commence. Maritime services programme
612. Mr Speaker, the Ministry has signed a contract agreement for the development of 11 Fish Landing Sites
at Axim, Dixcove, Moree, Mumford, Elmina, Winneba, Senya Bereku, Gomoa Fete, James Town, Teshie and Keta. The construction of these landing sites will commence in 2014.
613. The Net-Mending Wharf and Dredging of Canoe Basin at the Tema Fishing Harbour is being reconstructed. When completed, the project will revolu- tionalise the industry and transform totally the economic life of our fisherfolks.
614. Mr Speaker, the Ghana Maritime Authority continues the Vessel Tracking Management Information System project to control activities relating to piracy and armed robbery, illegal-unreported-unreg- ulated fishing and other maritime crimes. The project is about 99 per cent complete.
615. The Ministry has procured three 50-Seater High Speed Passenger Ferries and one Modular Passenger/Freight Vessel to be deployed at various ferry crossings on the Volta Lake.
616. Under the Eastern Corridor Multi-Modal Transport Project, the Min- istry will develop ports infrastructure at Akosombo, Buipe and Yapei and procure appropriate vessels and equipment to improve transportation services on the Volta Lake. These critical projects will go a long way to improve tremendously the socio-economic lives of the over 700 communities scattered along the lake.
617. Mr Speaker, the Regional Mari- time University will continue to support the transport sector service by training seafarers for export. This will generate some revenue for the State. Rail Transport Programme
618. Mr Speaker, the rehabilitation and extension of the Accra-Tema sub-urban railway line from Tema Harbour to Japan Motors as well as the renovation and
construction of railway stations along Accra-Tema railway line are at various stages of completion.
619. The Ghana Railway Development Authority will continue the rehabilitation and re-development of the Sekondi-Tako- radi via Kojokrom sub-urban railway line. Modern signalling and communication facilities will also be provided.
620. Mr Speaker, the draft report of the Railway Master Plan was submitted and awaiting stakeholders' review while a pre-feasibility study of the Eastern Rail- way Line and the Boankra Inland Port was completed.
621. The process to engage a Transac-
tional Adviser to guide the public private partnership (PPP) is ongoing. This project, which will commence in 2014, when com- pleted, will help to decongest the Tema Port. This is because cargo meant for the northern and middle belts will be trans- ported by rail to Boankra in the Ashanti Region for transit and clearing.
622. Construction of the sub-urban rail-line between Sekondi/Takoradi via Kojokrom will be expedited. Remodel- ling of Takoradi, Kojokrom and Butuah train stations will be undertaken while a completely new station will be built at Sekondi. Halts will be provided at Prisons, Ketan, Adiembra and Essaman. Diesel Multiple Unit trains will be provided to improve upon the transportation in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolis.
623. For the Accra/Tema rail service, the Ministry will continue the remodelling of the Baatsonaa, Achimota and Odaw train stations.
624. A feasibility study will also be undertaken for the introduction of Tram services in the Accra and Tema metropolis.
Road transport management pro- gramme
625. Mr Speaker, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) introduced computer-based theory (CBT) testing of prospective drivers to other DVLA offices across the country. The CBT is new operational in 22 out of the 25 offices nationwide. This will improve quality of test data, reduce turnaround time at the DVLA premises, and also reduce human interferences in the driving test administration as well as faking of test results.
626. The Authority completed the installation of local area network in all its offices and wide area network in 15 offices. In an attempt to improve its reve- nue generation and remove the activities of middlemen, the DVLA introduced a pilot online access to its services in Accra, Tema and Weija.
627. The Authority will procure addi- tional mobile testing equipment for ran- dom checks to be carried out on our roads.
628. Mr Speaker, the Metro Mass Transit Company Limited. embarked on a computer aided receipt verification processing system to reduce revenue leakages and hence improve upon revenue generation. The company constructed depots and workshops in Ho, Bolgatanga and Cape Coast. An additional 25 female drivers were trained, bringing the total to 50 to drive the intra city buses.
629. In 2014, the construction of the Aflao depot will continue while work will begin on the Tarkwa depot. The Kumasi and Accra workshops will be upgraded to international standards to provide first class servicing for their vehicles. To re- duce the long winding queues during the peak periods, the company will procure higher occupancy buses to improve upon intra-city services.

630. Mr Speaker, to enhance road safe- ty in the country and reduce the menace of road accidents, the National Road Safety Commission sensitised the general public on road safety rules and regulations, mon- itored the implementation of road safety strategies and set standards for road safety equipment.

631. In 2014, the Commission will continue with implementation of the Road Safety Strategic Plan which specifies pro- grammes and activities to be undertaken by road safety implementing agencies in the country.

632. Mr Speaker, even though we continue to experience carnage on our roads, the efforts of the Commission is appreciated and was therefore invited to the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 to share their experiences with the rest of the world.

633. Mr Speaker, for the implementa- tion of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢89,949,128 has been allocated. Out of this GoG provided GH¢32,045,010, GH¢30,089,468 is ABFA, GH¢15,583,860 is IGF and DP Funds is GH¢12,230,789.

Social sector

Ministry of Education

634. Mr Speaker, the Ministry exists to provide relevant education to all Ghana- ians as a vehicle for human and national development. The vision is to create a dynamic sector that equips all Ghanaians with relevant education and skills to realise and develop their potential to pro- mote socioeconomic growth and national development.

Key achievements for 2013 and out- look for 2014 are as follows:

2013 Performance and outlook for 2014

Management and administration pro- gramme

635. Mr Speaker, the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling continued to provide open and distance learning opportunities to raise ac- cess to education. The Centre commenced the production of 400,000 DVDs on JHS and SHS Mathematics and English for dis- tribution to schools. In addition, the pilot open school system enrolled 632 youth and prison inmates in JHS, SHS and TVET programmes from 13 study centres, out of which 52 wrote the BECE, WASSCE and NVTI examinations.

636. In 2014, the Ministry will increase the number of youth and prison inmates participation in the Open School System from 632 to 882, produce 400,000 copies of 59 audio-visual lessons in English, Mathematics, Integrated Science and So- cial Studies for distribution to schools as well as 100 units of practical interactive e-lessons for SHS and TVET.

637. Mr Speaker, the Ghana Library Authority procured 72,410 copies of books of various titles including 65 sets of encyclopaedia to stock the ten Regional Libraries and 50 District Libraries. The Authority in 2014 will continue to provide static and mobile library facilities at the Regional, District and Community levels to support teaching and learning.

638. The Ministry deployed 80,000 Na- tional Service personnel of which 62 per cent were posted to the Education sector and will register up to 90,000 personnel in the 2014/15 service year. Out of this number, 63 per cent will be deployed to the education sector.

639. Mr Speaker, a Policy Dialogue on Tertiary Education under the theme “Repositioning Tertiary Education for Na- tional Development” was held. Among the

key issues in a Communiqué that require Cabinet and Parliamentary approval were the development of a National Vision and Plan for Tertiary Education, the develop- ment of a sustainable Funding Policy for Tertiary Education and the development of a policy of Diversification and Differen- tiation of Tertiary Education Institutions.

640. A working group was established to work with the Inter-Ministerial Co-or- dinating Committee on decentralisation to develop modalities for implementing education decentralisation in line with the National Decentralisation Policy Frame- work. In 2014, the Ministry will review the Ghana Education Service Act, and the Education Act with the view to removing the inconsistencies and aligning roles and responsibilities.

641. Mr Speaker, to bridge the gender gap in access to education, a total of 15,700 girls from JHS benefited from scholarships through the Participatory Approach to Students Success. In order to improve completion and retention, especially for girls in deprived areas, take home rations were provided for 90,000 girls in the three northern regions. Scholarships were also provided for 800 girls to improve female enrolment in technical education. Science, Technology and Mathematics Education clinics were also organised for 300 girls in 20 Junior High Schools.

642. In 2014, the Ministry will take pragmatic steps towards improving quality and enhancing efficiency of the manage- ment of education service delivery. Spe- cific measures to be undertaken include cleaning of payroll and rationalisation of recruitment; teacher deployment from urban areas to deprived areas; review of payment of teacher trainee allowances; en- forcement of policy on zero tolerance for teacher absenteeism and; rationalisation of all school fees.

Basic education programme

643. Mr Speaker, about 32 million exercise books were distributed to Basic Schools across the country, benefiting 4,768,806 pupils while 170,221 pupils, in selected deprived communities, benefited from free school uniforms. In 2014, about 10 million exercise books will be distrib- uted nationwide whiles 10,000 school uniforms will be provided to needy pupils. The Ministry will provide BECE subsidy for over 403,000 final year JHS pupils.

644. Under the programme of remov- ing schools under trees, 983 classroom blocks, representing 43.3 per cent out of the total of 2,269 have so far been com- pleted and handed over, with the remain- ing 1,286 expected to receive expedited attention.

645. Mr Speaker, these interventions among others, contributed to an increase in enrolment at all levels of basic educa- tion between the 2011/12 and 2012/13 academic years. The enrolment levels now stand at 1.6 from 1.4 million in KG, 4.1 from 3.9 million in primary and 1.4 from 1.3 million in JHS. The Ministry plans to complete 190 6-unit classroom blocks under the “Schools under trees” project in 2014.

646. Mr Speaker, as part of efforts to achieve quality basic education, 12,000 pupil teachers were enrolled under the “Untrained Teacher Diploma in Basic Ed- ucation” Programme. In addition, in-ser- vice education and training was organised for 3,086 KG teachers, 13,264 primary school teachers and 6,534 JHS teachers.

647. To increase the percentage of trained teachers in deprived areas, the GES will enforce the posting policy where newly-trained teachers are posted to deprived areas for at least, two years to

683. Mr Speaker, Government's com- mitment to remove distortions and in- equities in Public Service pay through the implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy is steadily on course despite challenges. Statistics indicate that 479,497 out of a target of 480,000 public workers were migrated onto the Single Spine Sal- ary Structure. In collaboration with social partners, the National Tripartite Com- mittee also successfully negotiated the National Minimum Wage and determined the 2013 base pay and pay point relativity.
684. The Ministry will collaborate with the Ghana Statistical Service, NDPC and MoF to undertake a labour market survey to determine critical skills in short supply in the public service that qualify for the market premium. Beneficiaries will there- fore, be placed on the SSSS as soon as the survey is completed. The appropriate market premium values determined shall NOT be part of/or indexed to wages and salaries of beneficiaries.
685. Mr Speaker, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission will also collaborate with the Controller and Accountant- Gen- eral's Department and the Head of Civil Service to carry out a national payroll sur- vey that will rationalise nominal roll with pay roll of each public service institution. The objective is to clean the public service payroll and possibly reduce the Public Sector wage bill over time.
686. Mr Speaker, it is now Government policy to link pay to work and productivity in the public service. This enjoins employ- ers to pay for work done and compensate for increases in productivity of employees. In line with section 168 (2 & 4) of the Labour Act of 2003, Act 651, Government will henceforth pay only for work done. To implement these policy directives, a national framework to link pay to work
and productivity and productivity index in the public service will be developed by the Ministry.
687. The Ministry will collaborate with social partners and enforce Labour Laws and Regulations in this respect. Institu- tions, Unions, Associations, and Estab- lishments that contravene the Labour Act of 2003, Act 651 will be duly sanctioned.
688. Mr Speaker, the production of timely and reliable labour statistics under- pins effective employment policy formu- lation and national development planning. To this end, the Ministry will collaborate with the Ghana Statistical Service, Min- istry of Finance, Employers' Association, research institutions and the District As- semblies to establish a functional Labour Market Information System that will aid production of labour market information for national planning.
689. Mr Speaker, Ghana is a signatory to international protocols and agreements on ensuring that children are not used for or exploited in the production of goods and services for domestic consumption and for exports. In this regard, Government will collaborate with domestic and external partners to ensure that children are not ex- ploited in economic ventures, particularly in the cocoa, fisheries, quarry and mining segments of the economy.
The Ministry will collaborate with MoF and Ghana Cocoa Board and other part- ners, particularly the District Assemblies to implement the National Plan of Action on Elimination of Child Labour.
690. Mr Speaker, for the implementa- tion of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢38,542,298 has been allocated. Out of this GoG provided GH¢34,917,348 and GH¢3,624,950 is IGF.
Ministry of Youth and Sports
691. The Ministry is mandated to
develop the capacity of the youth and integrate them in national development, while ensuring that national values and aspirations are inculcated in them. The Ministry also ensures that sports is used as a tool for national cohesion, expression of national pride and platform for healthy living.
Key achievements for 2013 and out- look for 2014 are as follows:
2013 Performance and outlook for 2014
Youth services programme
692. Mr Speaker, the Ministry has advanced the preparation of the National Youth Bill and the Implementation/Action Plan of the National Youth Policy and in 2014, will finalise and facilitate the pas- sage of the National Youth Law as well as adopt an action plan for the Youth Policy to ensure a systematic and effective exe- cution of all youth programmes.
693. Mr Speaker, the Ministry devel- oped conditions of service and the scheme of service for Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) in order to streamline the op- erations of the Agency and also enhance the performance of staff. The Ministry exited all beneficiaries who had served two years or more with GYEEDA under the Agency's Exit Strategy, paving way for the recruitment of about 100,000 new beneficiaries in all the Agency's modules.
694. As part of the process of restruc- turing GYEEDA, the Ministry prepared and submitted the draft GYEEDA Bill to the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, which will be submitted to Parliament.
695. Mr Speaker, the National Youth
Achievers Award will be decentralised to the regions to make more impact on the youth sector. Also, the process of estab- lishing the National Youth Parliament will be completed to provide a platform for the youth to contribute to national discourse.
696. The Nationwide Youth Caravan Project will continue to disseminate in- formation and educate the public on the National Youth Policy and Action Plan. As part of the Caravan, a 21-day volun- tary work camps will be organised in 100 districts across the country to educate the youth and inculcate moral values into them. Sports Development Programme
697. Mr Speaker, the Ministry initiated action to enact the Sports Law to replace the SMCD 54 to serve as basis for the development of sports in the country. The National Sports Policy will also be revised and an action plan developed to implement the policy.
698. The remaining 8 out of the 20 mul- ti-purpose sports courts in some selected districts and educational institutions across the country will be completed in 2014.

700. The National U-20 Football Team, the Black Satellites participated in the African U--20 Youth Championship in Algeria as well as the FIFA World Youth Tournament in Turkey and placed second and third respectively. The Black Satellites and the Black Starlets will both participate in their respective Championships and

Qualifiers.
701. The National U-17 Female Foot-
ball Team, the Black Maidens also partic- ipated in the African U-17 Female Cham- pionship in Morocco and placed second.
702. Mr Speaker, the Senior National Female Football Team, the Black Queens will participate in the 2014 African Wom- en Qualifiers and Championship, while the Black Princesses (U-20) and the Black Maidens (U-17) will both participate in their respective World Cup Qualifiers and Championships.
703. The Local Black Stars will also participate in the 2014 African Nations Championships that will be held in South Africa. Ghana will participate in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, the 2nd African Youth Games in Botswana and the 2014 ECOWAS Games in la Cote d' Ivoire.
704. Mr Speaker, the Ministry will pur- sue its policy of converting the National Sports College into a Centre of Sports Ex- cellence in West Africa through the Pub- lic-Private-Partnership arrange-ment. The Project to be undertaken will involve con- struction of multi-purpose sports complex and offices. The College will also run and expand the scope of its coaching courses to include more sporting disciplines.
705. The construction of the Cape Coast Sports Stadium, which commenced with the ground preparatory works, will continue while the process for the acqui- sition of land for the Ho Sports Stadium will be completed for work to commence.
706. Mr Speaker, the Ministry will
expedite action on the construction of a modern boxing gym at Bukom, the rehabilitation of the Accra, Baba Yara, Essipong and Tamale Sports Stadia, and preparatory works for the construction of 10 sports senior high schools in all the
regional capitals and district sports arenas.
707. Mr Speaker, an amount of GH¢3.3 million have been budgeted to be shared equally to the 33 sports associations to facilitate their activities. This is part of the measure by Government to ensure that the lesser known sports are adequately resourced. The component for the Ghana Football Association will be used to sup- port juvenile (colts football).
708. Mr Speaker, for the implementa- tion of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢36,134,116 has been allocated. Out of this, GoG provided GH¢35,685,666 and IGF is GH¢448,450.
National Commission for Civic Edu- cation
709. Mr Speaker, the Commission is
established to promote and sustain de- mocracy and inculcate in the Ghanaian citizenry the awareness of their rights and obligations through civic education.
Key achievements for 2013 and out- look for 2014 are as follows:
2013 Performance and outlook for 2014
Civic Education Programme
710. Mr Speaker, the Commission or- ganised the celebration of the Citizenship Week in 4,000 schools nationwide under the theme “Transparency and Accountable Governance”. The Commission also or- ganised a lecture on the theme “Advancing Together” and engaged the media to mark the 20th anniversary of the Constitution.
711. The Commission will continue to increase ownership and participation in governance process by creating and sustaining awareness among citizens on Good Governance at all levels of society. To this end, the Commission will educate and sensitise the public on the principles of the 1992 Constitution thereby increasing
awareness of citizens' rights and respon- sibilities.
712. The Commission will celebrate the annual constitution week and continue to improve the level of confidence in the justice and administrative system. In addi- tion, it will collaborate with the Electoral Commission to sensitise the citizenry to reduce acrimony and create a free political environment. Furthermore, the Commis- sion will carry out a nationwide voter education and sensitisation on the 2014 District Assembly Elections.
713. Mr Speaker, for the implementa- tion of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢26,982,410 has been allocated. Out of this, GoG is providing GH¢26,982,410.
Ministry of Chieftaincy and traditional Affairs
714.The Ministry exists for the effec- tive interface between Government and the chieftaincy and traditional institution for the promotion of peaceful and good governance and the overall development of Ghana.
Key achievements for 2013 and out- look for 2014 are as follows:
2013 Performance and outlook for 2014
Chieftaincy and traditional affairs programme
715. Mr Speaker, the Ministry, through the judicial processes resolved 40 Chief- taincy cases while 91 disputes were settled through Alternative Dispute Resolution, thus creating peaceful environment and improved productivity. In 2014, the various Judicial Committees within the Chieftaincy Administration will continue to adjudicate the remaining 100 chieftain- cy matters which are pending.
716. Mr Speaker, during the year 2013, 16 Legislative Instruments on lines of succession to 16 stools/skins were processed for passage into law while the Royal Code of Ethics for Chiefs and Queen Mothers was launched to ensure the dignity of Traditional Authority in the country. In 2014, the Ministry will carry out research to codify lines of succession to 20 stools/skins; i.e. 2 in each region. The Ministry will also pursue a field research programme and data collection to codify more and more lines of succession, since that is the surest way to rid the country of the so many rampant chieftaincy disputes over succession.
717. Mr Speaker, in 2013, an elaborate training workshop was organized for 46 chieftaincy staff from across the country to sharpen their skills in Chieftaincy Law and Administration. In 2014, the Ministry will organise 50 elaborate sensitization and awareness creation workshops for Chiefs and Queen Mothers, that is 5 in each region.
The essence of this programme is to overcome the problem of harmful tra- ditional customary practices haunting the Ghanaian society and which impede democratic practice as well as economic development.
718. Mr Speaker, for the implementa- tion of the above programmes, an amount of GH¢20,227,991 has been allocated. Out of this, GoG is GH¢20,227,991.
Ministry of Health
719. Mr Speaker, the mandate of the Ministry of Health is to promote for all Ghanaians good health through the prevention of diseases and injuries, and to restore health of the sick and the inca- pacitated. Key achievements for 2013 and outlook for 2014 are as follows:
2013 Performance and outlook for 2014

Management and administration pro- gramme

720. Mr Speaker, the Ministry con- ducted a successful annual perfor-mance review and also reviewed the 2010-2013 Health Sector Medium-Term Develop- ment Plan. In 2014, the Ghana Health Service and Teaching Hospitals Act, 1996 Act 525, will also be reviewed and amended.

721. The Ministry will strengthen public financial management of the sector as well as health data collection, analysis and management. In addition, 23 hospital administrators will be trained in leadership and financial management. Furthermore, vital health commodities such as family planning contraceptives, tuberculosis drugs, anti-snake serum, rabies vaccines, CSM vaccines and locally manufactured anti-retroviral drugs will be procured.

722. Mr Speaker, the Ministry will also improve monitoring and supervision, implement the digital e-Health Solution Project and replace equipment in selected facilities.

Health Service Delivery Programme

723. Mr Speaker, an evaluation of the free Maternal Health Service Initi- ative was conducted which confirmed the national trend of an increasing use of health facilities for deliveries by pregnant women. Supervised delivery by mid-year increased from 24.3 per cent in 2012 to 37.5 per cent. Ante-Natal Care recorded an increase of 13.7 per cent to 46.3 per cent. In addition, the Couples Years Protection also increased from 586,100 to 749,200.

Finally, family planning acceptor rate marginally increased from 12.4 per cent

to 12.9 per cent. Following from that, the Ministry will accelerate the uptake of Family Planning Programme from 1,400,000 to 1,500,000 Couple Years Protection and increase skilled delivery coverage from 60 per cent in 2013 to 80 per cent in 2014 through the acceleration of implemen-tation of maternal health support programme.

724. Mr Speaker, institutional neonatal mortality at half year was 2.3 per 1,000 live births as against 5.8 per 1,000 live births in 2012. The corresponding figures for institutional infant mortality were 2.6 per 1,000 live births and 6.6 per 1,000 live births. Malaria case fatality rate (CFR) among under-five year olds reduced mar- ginally from 0.87 per cent in half year 2012 to 0.80 per cent in June, 2013.

725. The Ministry will increase the number of functional infant incubators for ne onatal care services by an additional 560 in 184 public hospitals nationwide as well as other accessories. The Ministry will reduce under-5 malaria case fatality rate from 1 per cent in 2013 to 0.75 per cent by scaling up Malaria Vector Control Programme.

726. Mr Speaker, the guinea-worm elimination status has so far been main- tained with no reported cases. To contain rubella measles throughout the country, the Ministry embarked upon mass im- munization campaign in which 921,025 children under 5 were vaccinated.

The third round of the vaccination against Human papilloma virus was con- ducted in the Central and Northern regions for 28,571 girls in classes 4 and 5 against cervical cancer. In 2014, vaccination will be done to cover more girls in classes 4 and 5.

727. Mr Speaker, a pilot membership authentication system was implemented in Ayawaso and La district schemes in Accra. Total indigents increased by 17 per cent from 393,453 in 2012 to 458,685 in 2013. About 5,000 beneficiaries were registered

and the common targeting mechanism is being piloted in 10 districts across the country. A further 1,037 inmates of psy- chiatric hospitals were registered in Accra Mental and Pantang Psychiatric Hospitals.

728. In 2014, to bring sanity in utili- zation, claims management and improve operations, the scheme will scale up the implementation of enhanced membership authentication and the e-claims systems across the country. The Ministry will increase membership of the Scheme by 9 per cent to reach 10.15 million, with the informal sector constituting 35 percent. The cost of claims is projected at GH¢765 million, an increase of 12 per cent.

729. Mr Speaker, an evaluation of pilot capitation in Ashanti Region showed that there is a significant increase in utilization and claims for OPD specialist and referral cases. In addition, a new medicine list and tariff were revised during the course of the year and are currently being implemented. This will enhance efficiency and reduce false claims.

730. Mr Speaker, the Ministry contin- ued the rehabilitation and upgrading of Bolgatanga Regional Hospital and handed over the completed Tarkwa District Hos- pital. In addition, 19 CHPS compounds were constructed while works on 25 new CHPS compounds commenced. In 2014, the Ministry will begin the construction of CHPS compounds to upscale maternal and child health care services.

731. Mr Speaker, under the National Medical Equipment Replacement Project, various medical equipment and machines including patient monitors, MRI scanners, X-ray machines, dental chairs, hospital beds were installed at Ridge Hospital, Tema General Hospital, Princess Marie Louise Children Hospital, 37 Military Hospital, Police Hospital, Maamobi Gen-

eral Hospital, Ga South District Hospital, Achimota Hospital as well as polyclinics at Korle-Bu, Kaneshie and Drobo in the Brong- Ahafo Region.

732. Mr Speaker, the Ministry will by March, 2014, complete and hand over 5 polyclinics located at Bomaa, Techiman- tia, Wamfie, Kwatire and Nkrankwanta all in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

733. Mr Speaker, in 2014, the Ministry will undertake the rehabilitation or expan- sion of various regional and district hos- pitals and polyclinics across the country.

These will include: 20 per cent upgrad- ing of the Ridge Hospital into a functional regional hospital, continuation of the rehabilitation of Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, completion of 50 per cent new maternity facility and expansion of the Tema General Hospital, completion of maternity blocks at Tafo and KomfoA- nokye Teaching Hospitals in Kumasi and refurbishment/ upgrading of Kaneshie Polyclinic into a district hospital.

The rehabilitation of Cape Coast and Ho Municipal Hospitals as well as the Akuse and Mampong Akuapem Hospitals will also commence in 2014.

734. Additional works are the reha- bilitation of the Bechem Hospital, con- struction of 5 polyclinics in the Greater Accra Region, rehabilitation of Axim Hospital, construction of National Blood Transfusion Centres in Accra and Kumasi, construction of two regional hospitals in the Western and Eastern Regions, con- struction of district hospitals at Adenta, East Mamprusi, Besease and Awutu (Central Region).

735. Other projects to be undertaken in 2014 include, the construction of 10 poly- clinics in the Central Region, construction of 1 regional hospital at Wa and 3 district hospitals at Salaga, Tepa and Nsawkaw, construction of 1 district hospital and 5

The rural LPG programme seeks to promote the use of LPG in rural communities in particular. The project will see the distribution of fifteen thousand cylinders in 10 districts in 10 regions on a pilot basis. [Interruption.] This will be followed by the deployment of a programme of two hundred and fifty thousand cylinders nationwide.

The refrigerator rebase programme seeks to replace old energy inefficient fridges with energy efficient new fridges. The programme is ongoing and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum together with the Energy Commission will vigorously pursue the policy. Other Poverty

851. A total amount of GH¢1,350.6 million was spent on “Other Poverty” related activities representing 8.52 per cent of total Government expenditure. The “Other Poverty” expenditures include spending on social welfare, public safety, drainage, human rights, environmental protection, rural housing, legal aid, decentralisation among others.

852. For 2014, an amount of GH¢2,111.5 million is planned to be used on “Other Poverty” related activities representing 8.02 per cent of total Government expenditure.

853. The Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme will be supported with an amount of GH¢38.0 million.

854. The Savannah Accelerated Development Authori ty (SADA), established to address the development gap between the northern savannah and the rest of Ghana, has been allocated an amount of GH¢20.0 million for 2014.

855. In 2014, the Central Regional Development Commission (CEDECOM) will be funded with an amount of GH¢20.0 million to enable it implement its work programme, which includes support to small-scale entrepreneurs and other employment generation ventures.

Progress towards the Millennium Development Goals

856. Ghana, since the initiation of the Millennium Development Goals, has made significant progress towards reducing poverty; improving access to education; reducing gender disparities in primary education; and providing access to improved water sources and these efforts have been recognised globally. Despite these achievements, challenges still exist in the areas of reducing maternal and child mortality and; increasing access to improved sanitation. Given the nearness to the deadline for achieving these targets, Government is intensifying its efforts in these areas to enable Ghana achieve these targets by 2015.

Below are details of Ghana's progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

857. The three main targets under this goal are: to (a) reduce by half, the proportion of those living in extreme poverty by 2015; (b) achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all including women and young people; and (c) reduce by half, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

Target 1A: Halve the proportion of those in extreme poverty, 1990-2015

858. The GLSS 2005/6 indicated that poverty in Ghana was reduced from 52 per cent in 1992 (about 7.9 million persons) to

29 per cent in 2006 (or about 6.3 million persons). Fieldwork for GLSS-6 will provide, by the end of this year, updated information on the incidence of poverty to ensure better targeted interventions to further address poverty and inequalities.

Target 1C: Halve the proportion of people who suffer from extreme hunger by 2015.

859. The main indicator monitored here is the prevalence of underweight children below 5 years of age. Ghana has met the target of reducing by half, the number of underweight children under 5 years. It may, however, be noted that stunting among children under 5 years still remains high at 28 per cent. To sustain the progress and address the issue of stunting, the Ghana School Feeding Programme and attention to breast feeding are being pursued to improve nutrition in children.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Target 2A: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

860. Government continues to fund a number of interventions namely capitation grants, free school uniforms, free exercise books and subsidies to ensure that children are enrolled and are able to complete basic education.

861. This support appears to have positively impacted progress in access to all levels of basic education, with all indicators improving in 2012/13 except for admission rates to JHS, though these trends change slightly when adjusted for population data.

862. Total enrolment at the kindergarten level is currently about 1.6 million, and

increased by 61,191 pupils in the 2012/13 academic year. The GER increased to 113.8 in 2012/13. Official age enrolment also continued to increase, giving an NER of 74.8.

863. Both gross and net enrolment ratios at the primary level increased at 105 and 84.1 per cent respectively, in 2012/13 academic year. Admission into primary 1 saw a similar trend to overall enrolment ratios. Also worth noting is the increase in admission ratios from the previous year, both for total admission (107.8) and admission of 6-year-old (79.3) using the unadjusted population data. Enrolment ratios are lower for deprived districts than for the national level, and saw a decrease in 2012/13 as compared with 2011/12.

864. Completion rates improved significantly at the primary level at 112 per cent, surpassing the Ghana Education Sector Plan (AESOP) target of 100 per cent. However, a large portion of this annual increase was due to the population adjustment.

Figure 7: Primary Enrolment Table

- page 165 - 10.55a.m.

865. At the junior high school level, the growth in enrolment seen in recent years continued. The Gross Enrolment Ratios and Net Enrolment Ratios for 2012/13 academic year are at 82.2 and 47.8 respectively.

866. At the senior high school level,

growth in enrolment has been increasing in recent years, as the expansion in access to basic education feeds into SHS. The number of students enrolled in senior high schools increased from 758,468 in 2011/12 to 842,587 in 2012/13, although due to the adjustment with 2010 PHC data the gross enrolment ratio appeared to fall narrowly to 36.8. Transition from junior high school to senior high school also increased by 10 percentage points from the 2011/12 academic year. The completion rate for males is almost 6 percentage points higher than for females. Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Target 3A: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and at all levels of education not later than 2015.
867. Gender parity in primary and secondary education and proportion of seats held by women in Parliament are the main indicators being tracked with respect to this MDG in Ghana.
868. According to the education sector performance review of 2012, progress was made towards gender equality in 2012/13. Using the new population data, gender parity has been surpassed in KG, with a higher proportion of girls being sent to KG than boys for the 4 to 5-year-old age group. Gender parity is almost met at the primary level, with a GPI of 0.99, but there is still some way to go for JHS where the GPI is 0.93.
Figure 8: Gender Parity Indices in basic education - page 167 - 10.55a.m.
869. At the senior high school level, enrolment and achievement remain unequal for boys and girls. In 2012/13, the proportion of SHS enrolment made up of girls increased to 45.9 per cent. The GPI in 2012/13 stands at 0.86. More boys finish SHS than girls do, as shown by the higher completion rates for boys than girls.
870. Progress towards improving the proportion of women in Parliament has experienced a positive turn in 2013, with the number of women Members of Parliament increasing to 11 per cent up from 8.3 per cent in 2009. The trend in women's participation in Parliament is shown in figure 9.
Figure 9: Proportion of Women in Parliament - page 168 - 10.55a.m.
Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality
Target 4A: Reduce by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 the under-five mortality rate.
871. Ghana's under-five mortality declined from 167 per, 1000 live births in

2000 to 82 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011 as against the MDG target of 39.9 per 1,000 live births by 2015. This means that one in every 12 children dies before reaching their fifth birthday. The national average rates have however remained stagnant since 2008. However, there are significant regional variations, with some regions such as Upper West being able to reduce their child mortality rate by 50 per cent while some have only achieved marginal improvements.

872. Institutional Infant Mortality Rates (iIMR) improved significantly in 2012 with more than 50 per cent reduction in infant deaths. Immunization rates have been consistently high and the reduction in vaccine preventable diseases may have contributed to this reduction in institutional rates of infant deaths. Ghana has not recorded any deaths due to measles since 2003.

873. Institutional under-five mortality also improved significantly in 2012 with more than 50 per cent reduction overall, possibly a reflection of improvement in access to care. All districts experienced reductions with some in the Upper West Region having a reduction of 91 per cent. health insurance coverage and community management of malaria, diarrhoea and acute respiratory infection are the main interventions that have improved access to care in the districts and communities.

874 .With the sca le -up of the Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) interventions, increased Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) coverage, increased use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) and improved coverage of skilled deliveries since 2008, child health will hopefully improve as we near the MDG target year.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Target 5A: Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015 the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)

875. Ghana's efforts to improve on maternal health have made a progressive change in the maternal mortality ratio. However, achieving the MDG 2015 target of 185 per 100,000 live births (from survey results) and 50 per 100,000 live births (from iMMR) remains challenging. Recognising the importance of tackling this issue, Government is implementing the comprehensive MDG 5 accelerated framework (MAF) to improve the country's maternal health and assist in attaining the MDG 5 target.

876. An evaluation of the free Maternal Health Service initiative has confirmed the national trend of an increasing use of health facilities for deliveries by pregnant women. Over the past 3 years, supervised delivery coverage has increased by 28.2 per cent and over the past 5 years by 66.5 per cent. Coverage of supervised deliveries in 2012 was 58.5 per cent which represents an increase of 6.7 per cent over 2011. The Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) showed that Ghana had a skilled attendant at delivery coverage of 68.4 per cent. The good performance can be attributed to improved access from the free maternal healthcare policy and also improvement in data collection.

877. Institutional Maternal Mortality (iMMR) dropped significantly from 211 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2011 to 193 in 2012. Though various hospitals have initiated interventions which are improving on maternal health, other facilities do not appear to be having such success.

878. Some of the top causes of maternal deaths are high blood pressure, hemorrhage after childbirth and abortion. Other causes include sub-standard drugs which

own revenue flows to enhance their capacity to actually perform the roles they have been formally authorised to play, while they remain accountable to local citizens for the public goods and services that they deliver.

917. The measures will include the:

development of a well-defined policy framework that enables the expansion of the base of existing MMDA revenue sources, the identification of new sources of revenue, and the effective administrat ion of collect ion systems. To this end, Government will initiate a national debate on MMDA Internally Generated Funds to reflect on options for policy reforms;

establishment of an effective public and social accountability mechanism to ensure that the resources mobilised are put to use for the benefit of ordinary Ghanaians;

support the major MMDAs to enter into PPP arrangements in the building up of sanitation infrastruc- ture in the MMDAs;

review draft 2008 Municipal Finance Bill, to provide policy direction and operational guidelines to enable qualifying MMDAs to access other financial resources to meet their operations.

G h a n a I n t e g r a t e d F i n a n c i a l Management Information Systems (GIFMIS) Project

Performance

918. Mr Speaker, the implementation of

the GIFMIS is a major pillar of the PFM reform programme of the Government.

919. The overarching development objective of GIFMIS is to assist in improving the effectiveness of service delivery and the allocation of scarce resources, using the new tools and processes resulting from the GIFMIS, and assure an accountable, more effective and transparent government.

920. It has been observed that having an integrated system helps in providing information on sectors and levels of the economy both national and subnational and will assist in making critical decisions as well as monitoring the implementation of those decisions.

921 . Mr Speaker, when fu l ly implemented, GIFMIS will serve as the single source system for official budget preparation and management, cash and treasury management, purchase ordering and payments, and financial control and reporting for the country as a whole.

922. The general ledger which is a repository of all accounts as well as the purchases and accounts payable modules have been rolled out to all MDAs at the national and regional levels. The system is now the official system of recording of procurements and payments (commit- ments and expenditure) made by MDAs at national and regional levels in respect of consolidated fund budgetary resources. These MDAs can only assess their consolidated funds budgets by use of the

GIFMIS.

923. The Annual Public Accounts (on the consolidated funds) for 2012 was prepared using the GIFMIS. Monthly accounts for 2013 are also produced using the GIFMIS.

924. Mr Speaker, an electronic funds transfer system has been developed and

payments to suppliers and contractors are now made by electronic transfer of the funds to the beneficiary bank accounts. This system is operational at 20 MDAs at the national level and seven MMDAs that are on the GIFMIS system.

Outlook

925. In 2014, the system will be connected to offices of spending units who currently process their transactions at Transaction Processing Centres.

926. Mr Speaker, to achieve the full benefit of having an integrated financial management system, plans have been concluded to interface major legacy systems such as the Total Revenue

Integrated Processing System (TRIPS), Ghana Customs and Management Systems (GCMS) of the GRA, the T24 and SWIFT at BoG to the GIFMIS.

927. Mr Speaker, the Controller & Accountant-General's Department is upgrading the IPPD system and will integrate it with the GIFMIS. The upgrade will improve performance of the IPPD system while the integration will facilitate budgetary control over payroll cost. The upgrade is expected to be completed by the end of the year while the integration will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2014.

928. Currently, GIFMIS covers only Consolidated Funds. In 2014, the system will be extended to incorporate internally generated funds, statutory funds and donor funds.

929. Mr Speaker, in 2014, training will be conducted for MDAs on analysis of reports

from the GIFMIS system for monitoring and decision-making such as resource allocation and programme management. These efforts are aimed at consolidating the gains of the GIFMIS system at national and regional levels before eventual roll out to the districts.

930. Mr Speaker, to ensure effective cash management, a Loans and Fiscal Agency Agreement has been signed with BoG.

Use of GIFMIS for processing of IGFs and DP funded transactions

931. Mr Speaker, with effect from 2014, transactions relating to internally generated funds and Development Partner

funds will be processed on the GIFMIS. This will enhance the efficiency and comprehensiveness of public expenditure and improve compliance with the Financial Administration Regulations, 2004 (L.I. 1802) and the annual Appropriation Act.

932. Under this arrangement, MDAs that generate non-tax revenue will be required to lodge the revenue collection in gross into designated accounts. On the basis of amounts lodged, the MDA will be required to obtain warrants from the Ministry of Finance to enable them assess budget under the IGF source of funds.

933. In respect of DP funds, MDAs will apply to MoF for warrant on receipts of the funds before processing of expenditure

Fund (GIF) to deal with the huge infrastructure deficit and to focus on strategic infrastructure that will lead to job creation and the growth of the economy.

952. GIF will be a quasi-fiscal body that will be chaired by the Minister for Finance and, in due course, pursue its own “ratings” on the domestic and international financial and capital markets. Indeed, independent rating is a strategic move that Government will encourage to enable these enterprises borrow on their own balance sheets or records.

Private Sector Role: The GIF will focus on strategic infrastructure in partnership with the private sector when it becomes operational. Currently, Ghana's financial and capital markets are constrained with limited availability of long- term finance, both local and inter- national, to support both the public and private sector infrastructure projects.

The GIF will therefore partner the private sector through linkages that include the financing of Special Purpose Vehicles ( SPVs) as well as Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), mortgage finance and finance leases. Additionally, the GIF will create investment opportunities for institutional investors including pension funds.

Sources of GIF funds: The potential sources of funds for GIF include appropriations by Parliament, including the recent 2.5 per cent increase in VAT -- [Uproar] -- as well as ABFA portion for amortisation and infrastructure development. Other sources include: escrowed and on-

lent funds from prior investments; private or public domestic and foreign funds from multilateral institutions and development banks; the capital markets (including our own stock exchange); pensions and mutual funds (including social security and insurance funds); and other funds.

GIF Debt Service Account (DSA): Mr Speaker, the GIF will operate a debt service account in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance with the assistance of the Bank of Ghana, and with designated domestic and foreign Sovereign debt compo- nents.

The purpose of the latter is to utilise the flows of foreign exchange such as the ABFA to spur confidence in the markets and minimise foreign exchange losses and exposures that impact our public debt negatively.

Mr Speaker, it is proposed that all existing escrow and debt service accounts such as the one we have established under the China-Exim facility for the Bui Dam, the one we have established with the CDB as well as what we have established with the BNDUS of Brazil will be subordinated to the GIF Debt Service Account provided that the terms of existing Agreements passed by the House permit.

Mr Speaker, this is to send a strong signal that Ghana is capable of servicing its debts and establishing a debt service account in a more compact and aggregate way instead of the disbursed manner in which we currently do it in conjunction with those institutions when we take loans.

Project financing: Mr Speaker, the Board of the GIF will advise the Minister on viable projects to be financed by GIF, including those involving special purpose vehicles

(SPV) such as joint venture (JV) and public-private partnership (PPP) projects as I have noted. It is envisaged that GIF will issue special bonds to finance specific commercial projects. The GIF will be empowered to set up onlending, escrow and other mechanisms for the purposes of pursuing and ensuring the success of its investments.

Guarantees and risk management: Mr Speaker, on risk management elements of our debt, we intend the establishment of GIF will lead to a review of Government's exposure to risks from borrowing and issuing sovereign guarantees. It is our intention to minimise the use of sovereign guarantees that are currently treated, automatically, as public debt in our Debt Sustain- ability Analysis (DSA) without any provision whatsoever for conti- ngent liabilities as is done in other countries.

We are therefore currently in discussions with the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) on the appropriate classification of our state owned Enterprises (SOEs) and other guarantees. Where guarantees are essential, we will maximise the use of third party instruments such as the MIGA guarantees and World Bank/AfDB partial and credit risk guarantees.

953. Mr Speaker, the GIF is a response to the need to manage Ghana's limited but potentially expanding fiscal space. It is a sub-optimal classification and manage- ment of public debt; and difficulties in mobilising funds, in particular, for infrastructure projects of a commercial nature. The linkages to the private sector

are crucial to leverage our investments in infrastructure projects.

Mr Speaker, permit me to note that this innovation is what spearheads most of the investments in countries like South Africa and in the Middle East, as well as initiatives that are being taken along these lines by Nigeria, Kenya, Angola and other African countries.

Mr Speaker, as a middle-income country, Ghana cannot continue to classify all debts and public debts without distinction to commercial, especially commercial self-financing projects such as the Bui Dam, the gas processing plants, the thermal plants as well as the water systems that supply water to our urban areas.

Mr Speaker, at the appropriate time, when the recommendations are made, we would return to the House when necessary for approval. It is necessary to vigorously pursue long-term quasi-fiscal institutions as well as banking and/or capital market solutions.

954. Mr Speaker, the intention of Government is to consolidate the use of such commercial financing facilities to finance projects that can repay commercial loans that the Government contracts directly or guarantees. It is also a means of freeing grants and concessional facilities for social infrastructure projects that often return benefits indirectly (for example, through improvements in social indices) and directly over relatively longer periods.

955. The successful implementation of the GIF will therefore, provide several opportunities to apply national resources in various novel ways including long-term infrastructure bonds to accelerate the upgrading and renewal of critical national infrastructure. We are mindful of the fact that the Ministry of Finance needs to work with our infrastructure ministries, in particular, to improve executive, financial and operational management.

956. Mr Speaker, given the importance attached to the GIF, H.E. the President will establish and inaugurate the special committee to immediately advise him after the House approves the government's financial policies. It is proposed that the GIF becomes operational during the first quarter of 2014. H.E. the President will also constitute an internal advisory panel to advise him periodically on global investment options.
Fiscal Policy
Debt management
957. Mr Speaker, with the diminishing sources of grants and concessional financing because of our new LMIC status, Government has developed a debt management strategy that provides more cost-efficient access to the international and domestic capital markets to meet its development needs. The establishment of the GIF is part of our overall debt management strategy. Hence, we wish to propose a number of strategies to consolidate sustainability and efficiency in debt management.
Liquidity management: This is like what is applied in the United Kingdom called the “Golden Rule” of fiscal management as it is called in the U.K. This uses short-term borrowings primarily for liquidity management purposes over the fiscal year and will not be used to accumulate permanent debt.
Revenues from self-financing projects: Our debt management policy will ensure that commercial projects are designed with emphasis on the revenue generation, with appropriate escrow and on-lending mechanisms to recover the loans used to implement the investments.
Onlending and escrow arrange- ments: These will be put in place because over the past years, State- owned Enterprises (SOEs), Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), and some MDA/MMDAs have benefited from loans and Government guarantees to support commercial projects without incorporating the cost of debt service into the projects or financial statements for the entities. As a firm policy, Government has started an on-lending and escrow account initiative to prevent these loans from aggravating the public debt situation.
Financing capital expenditures (CAPEX): The capital expenditure component of the annual budget will be funded primarily from the long- term debt market. In this regard, Government extended the yield curve to seven years in 2013 and will continue to work towards extending the yield curve to 10-12 years from 2014, with assistance from the multilateral and other agencies. In connection with this, Government tapped into the eurobond market in 2013 to obtain long-term funds for debt restructuring and capital expenditures.
Mr Speaker, these should change. This is because we need to go back to the model that was used to finance major projects such as the Akosombo and Kpong Dams, the Tema Harbour and the Motorway.
Loans-to-Priority Projects Pro- gramme: Government has taken stock of all pipeline and existing loans and has started a “loans- to-priority projects” Programme -- based on which it now identifies projects that are funded from specific sources of funds such as the recent sovereign bond issue and the ABFA. The policy will be enhanced by the use of the elaborate coding
system under GIFMIS.
Tapping External Capital (Bond) Markets: Mr Speaker, borrowing from the external capital market is part of a borrowing programme for (a) general capital budget support (as noted above); (b) financing specific projects; (c) re-financing existing debt; and (d) counterpart funding for the capital and recurrent budget. The benefits of this initiative include:
i. less reliance on the short-end of the markets (e.g., Treasury Bills) to finance the budget and, thereby, extending the tenor of loans; and
ii. diversifying the sources of long-term financing (which currently includes loans from the multilateral institutions/ banks as well as develop- ment, commercial, and EXIM banks); and, thereby helping to improve the fiscal situation and minimising any adverse impact on the availability of credit (i.e., crowding out) and rising domestic interest costs.
958. Mr Speaker, Government is mindful of the foreign exchange exposure in tapping the foreign capital markets to finance our capital expenditures. However, as noted, we intend to limit this exposure through the use of foreign-exchange based debt service account from sources such as the ABFA. Eurobond issue
959. Mr Speaker, Hon Members of this august House will recall that in August 2013, Government obtained parliamentary approval to issue up to US$1 billion in the
eurobond markets. The prospectus is being distributed with this budget and a more detailed report is attached in an Appendix to this budget, as we promised to do when the House approved the measure. The summary of the transaction is as presented in table 31.
Ta b l e 3 1 : E u r o b o n d Issue Transactions - page 187 -

960. Mr Speaker, at the time the Eurobond was issued, the markets had become very turbulent. The main factors that affected the bond issue were the relatively long approval process under our laws, the period for settling electoral disputes, the uncertainty created by the U.S. Fed's announcement on its quantitative easing policy and Ghana's long absence from the international capital markets.

961. Mr Speaker, we persevered knowing that turbulence is a regular feature of markets and more importantly we had a positive outlook to enter the market. Nonetheless, the experience clearly shows that timing is of essence and we must find a compromise that is consistent with our laws.

962. Mr Speaker, it is noteworthy that even in the face of a challenging global market environment, Ghana was able to issue another Euro bond and listed it at the Ghana Stock Exchange, thus, becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to do a domestic listing of a Eurobond. Through

i. The spirit of the PRMA was to transfer 70 per cent, 21 per cent and nine (9) per cent of the net petroleum receipts to the ABFA, GSF and GHF, respectively. However, as already noted, the transfers to the GSF alone exceed that of the ABFA in 2013.
ii. Furthermore, return on the GSF: The investment income on the GSF has been low, compared with our borrowing costs for infrastructure projects. In order to ensure value for money, the excess transfers to the GSF will be used for loan repayment in order to free capital for infrastructure development
Mr Speaker, the decision to cap the GSF is not to deny it of funds. Indeed, we could have made withdrawals from the GSF in 2012 due to shortfalls in allocations to ABFA, as provided in the PRMA. However, Government opted against making any withdrawals from the GSF in 2012.
Setting up of the Contingency Fund: Establish the Contingency Fund as provided for in the Constitution, to receive some of the excess transfers into the GSF once the cap is attained, in line with section 23(4) of the PRMA. An amount of GH¢50 million from
the excess of the cap on the GSF is proposed to initiate the setting up of the Contingency Fund to meet urgent or unforeseen need for expenditure for which no other provision has been made.
Review of the PRMA
973. Mr Speaker, the issues that require review through legislation will be presented to this august House in early 2014. These issues include:
Petroleum benchmark revenue: The Petroleum Benchmark Revenue formula has consistently led to an underestimation of petroleum prices and volumes, leading to excessive transfers into the Ghana Petroleum Funds and underfunding of the ABFA. These actually have also been noted by the PIAC. We will therefore bring an amendment to correct this. The proposal is to review the formula for estimating the benchmark revenue to provide more robust estimates
Qualifying Instruments: Section 27(2) of the PRMA allows for a review of the range of instruments designated as qualifying instru- ments for the investment of the accumulated funds in the GPFs after every three years or sooner. In line with this provision, MoF would explore the possibility of reviewing the range of instruments for investment of the GPFs based on the advice of the Investment Advisory Committee (IAC). The proposal is to review section 61 of the PRMA to include higher yielding instruments based on an approved list of guidelines in the investment policy.
PIAC Membership: Section
54(1) of the PRMA states that the membership of PIAC shall be eleven. However, the same section enumerates 13 slots to be filled. This contradiction will be corrected during the review of the PRMA.
Resource mobilisation initiatives
974. Mr Speaker, for 2014, the emphasis will be on improving revenue mobilisation through tax effectiveness and efficiency. To that effect, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) will continue its tax modernisation programme to ensure the recovery of uncollected taxes. The measures include plugging leakages and loopholes in tax administration, widen the tax net, undertake direct tax audit, intensify customs post-clearance reconciliation, intensify VAT reconciliation and improve payroll tax auditing.
975. Mr Speaker, permit me to present some of the revenue measures and proposals for 2014.
Personal Income Tax (PIT)

Withholding Tax on Rent

977. Mr Speaker, in order to encourage the provision of residential accommoda- tion, a withholding tax of 15 per cent is proposed for commercial buildings which will only be an increase from the existing eight per cent and will be done in conjunction with the existing MDAs. The ongoing street naming exercise will

help in identification of properties and assist in enhancing the collection of rental income taxes.

The GRA, MMDAs and other stakeholders will continue to work on the cadastral project for the country to enhance the valuation of properties for property rates.

Tax Stamps

978. Mr Speaker, next year, Government plans to introduce tax stamps on selected excisable products as part of measures of enforcing compliance. The Ministry of Finance in consultation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and other stakeholders will determine modalities for its implementation. This tax stamps are already being implemented in many countries and they are done in conjunction with excise taxes.

Transfer pricing

979. Mr Speaker, following the passage of the transfer pricing regulation in 2012, by this House, the GRA is mainstreaming the new tax regulations into its operations. To this effect, all key staff and other stakeholders that will help in implementing the transfer pricing regulations have been trained. It is envisaged that effective auditing which will commence in 2014 will reduce the abuses and under-declaration of profits and, thereby, resulting in higher profits for taxation purposes.

Windfall Profit Tax

980. Mr Speaker, in 2012, the windfall profit tax Bill was tabled in Parliament. The Bill sought to impose a windfall profit tax of 10 per cent on mining companies. Unfortunately, the Bill could not be considered by Parliament. A committee is reviewing all stability agreements, incentives and the windfall profit tax that

and paucity of agriculture data. It will assist in the provision of reliable data for statistical analysis, computation of national indicators and serve as valuable tools to government and other development actors.
1014. The expected impact is that the Ghana Business Register will facilitate the estimation of the GDP contribution of different classes of business such as that of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and those in the informal sector. It will also provide employment figures and a comprehensive list of businesses for the expansion of the tax net and improved revenue generation among others.
Social intervention initiatives
1015. Mr Speaker, in 2014, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme will be supported with an amount of GH¢38.0 million to cover 150,000 households and improve the targeting of LEAP using more efficient data collection, as well as expansion in the coverage of the programme. This is to ensure that the impacts already achieved are not only deepened but also have a lasting effect on lives of a greater number of beneficiaries, their families and wider communities.
1016. Mr Speaker, children are the most vulnerable in our society and orphaned children are even more so than any other. A society that does not take care of its orphans and deprived children is one that has completely lost its consciousness of what is important and necessary. In recognition of this, Government in this budget has provided GH¢5 million to take care of the three State orphanages -- Osu, Kumasi and Tamale and the two subvented orphanages at Mampong and Jirapa.
Part of these funds will be used to rehabilitate these very rundown and overcrowded facilities while the remaining
amount will be used to increase their subsistence allowance and to fund other social services.
1017. In 2014, the SADA programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection will undertake specific interventions to address growing migration of older women to urban, market locations.
1018. In 2014, Government will continue the construction of Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds to improve equitable access to healthcare. Special-purpose CHPS compounds focusing on maternal and neo-natal health will be built under a special purpose fund established by the President. In 2013, the Government of Ghana purchased 12.9 million textbooks for primary and junior high schools in the three core subjects -- English, Maths, Science. There are also new teacher guides. This was a government initiative to deliver on the policy commitment of ensuring each child had 3 core textbooks.
1019. In 2014, Government, with the assistance of its partners will also source basic science kits for junior high schools to improve the quality of teaching.
1020. As part of planned social intervention programmes in 2014 for the education sector, an amount of GH¢101.15 million will be spent on the completion of ongoing education infrastructure, removal of “Schools Under Trees”, senior high schools ‘Quick Fix' Projects and start-up for community day senior high school projects.
An amount of GH¢10.0 million will be invested in free school uniforms while provision of free exercise books to pupils in deprived communities will receive GH¢10.0 million. The Capitation Grants scheme will receive GH¢25.4 million
while GH¢14.1 million and GH¢60.8 million have been allocated for the BECE and SHS subsidies respectively.
1021. The energy sector will receive an amount of GH¢20.0 million for the Self Help Electrification Project (SHEP) to provide electricity for rural dwellers.
1022. Under the Kero Lantern Replacement project, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum is deploying 200,000 solar lanterns to replace kerosene lanterns, particularly in areas without electricity. So far, 20,000 lanterns have been deployed in over 50 communities throughout the country.
1023. The Rural LPG programme seeks to promote the use of LPGs in rural communities in particular. The project will see the deployment of 15,000 cylinders in 10 districts in the 10 regions on a pilot basis. This will be followed up with the deployment of 250,000 cylinders nationwide.
1024. The ref r igera tor rebase programme seeks to replace old energy inefficient fridges with energy efficient new fridges. Under the programme, individuals turn in their old inefficient fridges to the Energy Commission for a coupon of GH¢200.00 to enable them purchase new energy efficient fridges from designated dealers throughout the country.
Transparency and anti-corruption initiatives --
1025. Mr Speaker, the measures proposed in this Budget are predicated on a strong and decisive fight against corruption. H. E. President John Dramani Mahama announced specific anti- corruption measures and declared that the
“key to resolving the corruption

1027. Mr Speaker, the work on GIFMIS will enhance our technological capacity to fight corruption arising from possible collusion and manipulation of databases and records.

1028. Mr Speaker, Government takes a very serious view of value-for-money and transparent means for its contracting for projects and services that involve the use of public funds. Consequently, all contracts have been carefully codified in the contract database, and these are selectively being reviewed for compliance with all the provisions under the law.

H.E. President Mahama has recently announced as part of Government's anti- corruption measures that all contracts for services proved to have been unlawfully awarded should be reviewed and possibly cancelled.

Mr Speaker, we shall work with the policy unit to ensure that we conduct audits and prioritise these programmes.

Section Nine: Conclusion

1029. Mr Speaker, this Budget has been

Hon Members, order!
Hon Members, let us have order. [In- terruptions.] Hon Members, order for the last. [Interruptions.] [Some Hon Members: [Woyome, Woyome, Woyome, Woyome, gangantua oh, wonkyendzi.]
Hon Members, in accordance with Standing Order 140 (3), and within such time as the Business Committee may de- termine, debate on the Motion shall stand adjourned for not less than three days.
I also direct that part of the Budget relating to the Ministries and the relevant constitutional bodies shall stand com- mitted respectively to the committees responsible for the subject matter to which the heads of the estimates relate for con- sideration and report in accordance with Standing Order 140 (4).
Furthermore, any part of the Budget relating to revenue and expenditure, shall stand committed to the Finance Commit- tee, in accordance with Standing Order
140 (5).
Hon Majority Leader?

Mr Speak- er, we have had a very long day and based on your direction in relation to committing the Statement on the Economic Policy of the Government by the Finance Minis- ter, I beg to move, that this House stand adjourned to the 20th of November at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.

Any seconder? [Inter- ruptions.]
Hon Minority Leader, are you second- ing the Motion? The Motion has been moved; I want a seconder.

Mr Speaker, I intend to second the Motion but before I do so, it looks like there is an omission on the part of the Hon Minister; that is what my Hon Colleague wanted to point out to him.

Hon Member, you can raise it in seconding the Motion and let me put the Question.

Mr Speaker, the Hon Minister ought to have come with a report on the petroleum inflows and he should have submitted it. This is because it is mandatory; that is why I was saying, that he should have done so alongside. He says that he has it and he should have laid it, because it is statutorily mandatory that he is required to submit it.

Hon Minister, section
48(1) of Act 815, that is, the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011, sub-sec- tion (1) states;

Mr Speaker, I guess that it was a matter of the procedure that did not make it -- [Interruptions.]

Mr Speaker, once the law makes it mandatory that it has to come together with the Budget, it should be deemed as having been captured. Physically, Mr Speaker, once the matter has been raised, I will indulge you to let the Hon Minister actually place this Report additionally on the Table for considera-tion by Hon Members.

Hon Members, we have to get the Hon Minister to lay that Report as part of the Budget Statement. Therefore, vary the order of business and allow him to have it laid accordingly. [Interruptions.]
Hon Members, I will now call on the Hon Minister to lay the Report.

Mr Speaker, I thank you for creating space
for this.
I would want to go on the path that you have chartered that we adjourn
proceedings. But Mr Speaker, I noticed the alacrity with which the Hon Majority
Leader moved the Motion to adjourn. Mr Speaker, if there is nothing to debate,
certainly, he would be in a haste to move such a Motion.
Mr Speaker, I take a cue; we certainly would debate it at the appropriate time.
Certainly, a very uninspiring Budget, but I would want to agree to the Motion for adjournment for us, at least, to watch
the Black Stars match.
Mr Speaker, I beg to second the Motion. [Interruptions.] [Some Hon

Mr Speaker, I was just trying to draw my Hon Colleague to a type of style -- [Interruptions]--
which is very exciting for the public but it has consequences for future procedure in the House. There are very good rea- sons I chose not to make any comment
in relation to what has happened and if fairness requires it and the Motion was moved, one would have expected that
the Hon Minority Leader would second it without ceremony.
But it is a question of style, as I have said. I am taking serious notice about
that style and I will revise my own style subsequently.
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Question put and Motion agreed to.