Our Detractors Will Never Be Satisfied With Our Performance � Finance Minister

Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr. Kwabena Duffour has rejected claims that the 2012 fiscal policy of government he presented to Ghanaians is a recycle of promises contained in the 2011 Budget and full of propaganda. To him, it is not surprising that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is describing the 2012 as such saying, �your enemy or opponent can never be satisfied with anything you do�.

Dr. Duffour on Wednesday, November 16th, gave an overview of the country�s economy and also chronicled major policy directives the government will implement in the coming months when he presented the budget themed: "Infrastructure Development, Accelerated Growth And Job Creation".

�Madam Speaker, we promised Ghanaians a better Ghana and we have significantly delivered on this promise; we promised to remove schools under trees and we are very much on course; we promised to remove iniquities in incomes through the single spine and we are very much on course; we promised to move the economy from fragility to robustness, yes we have; we promised to significantly expand the economy and we have; we promised to arrest inflation, yes we have; we promised to arrest rapid depreciation of the cedi, yes we have; we promised to provide free uniforms and exercise books, yes we have; we promised to deliver skills and jobs to our youth, yes we have; we promised to expand the school feeding programme, yes we have; we promised to provide schools with computers and Maths and Science scholarships, yes we have; we promised to establish public private partnership policy, yes we have; we promised to deepen competition in the telecom industry, yes we have.

��Madam Speaker, indeed, this is a budget that heralds the march towards a better Ghana and gives hope of a brighter tomorrow and the building of a nation that is truly great and strong,� Dr. Duffour said.

But the opposition NPP, moments after the presentation, described the budget as a statement full of propaganda and a rehash of previous budgets presented to parliament in the last three years by the NDC government. According to the NPP, the budget presented to parliament by the Finance Minister contains no new substance.

However, speaking in an exclusive interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM�s Kokrokoo Morning show, the Finance Minister wondered if allocating money to the music industry and setting up a Media Development Fund for the first time, which have over the years been neglected, is what makes the budget propaganda.

�It is not true that the budget is for propaganda if we say we want to help musicians to organize themselves and develop. The music industry creates all sort of job avenues for the youth and until now nobody has thought about them, they�ve been struggling on their own and when we are trying to help them, they say propaganda ... are musicians not Ghanaians? We also allocated some funds for the media too because the work of the media is very important and they describe this as propaganda? Well, it is not surprising because your detractor or opponent will never be satisfied with whatever you do, else they won�t say that,� he said.

He further stated that the ruling NDC government promised Ghanaians a Better Ghana, and indeed, they have delivered on that promise, stressing that they have remove schools under trees, reduce inflation and halted the rapid depreciation of the cedi.

To him, what the NDC has achieved is epic saying US President �Barack Obama coined the phrase that �Yes We Can� but we (NDC) are saying �Yes We Have� and these achievements give us confidence that in the coming years, Ghanaians can continue to trust the NDC government to faithfully steer the affairs of Ghana�.

Source: Beatrice Adepa Frempong/Peacefmonline.com