Accra, Nov. 18, GNA - The 2011 Budget would ensure significant investments in agriculture, rail transport, roads and highways, energy an= d housing in pursuit of government's growth strategy.

Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor said this would be complemented by investment in the social sector to improve the living standards of Ghanai= ans in general and the poor in particular. Specifically, there would be major interventions in the education, health and water sectors. "These ministries would be provided with adequate domestic and forei= gn resources to implement the growth oriented programmes for job creation," Dr Duffuor told Parliament when presenting the 2011 Budget on Thursday. He said the role of infrastructure development in accelerating econo= mic growth was very crucial, especially at this stage of the country's development. According to him, the infrastructure deficit in the energy, housing,=

roads and water sectors was undermining the ability of many businesses to=

produce goods and services in an efficient manner. Over the medium term, investment decisions would focus on some key priority areas expected to drive the growth process. These are: accelerating agriculture modernisation; developing oil an= d gas industry; developing critical infrastructure; sustaining natural resource management and environment; enhancing the competitiveness of the=

private sector; and human resource development.

Dr Duffuor said as a commitment to these priority areas, food and agriculture had been allocated GH¢221.6 million for major interventions= in food security, agriculture modernisation and productivity. The energy, water resources, works and housing would receive GH¢40= 5.5 million and GH¢558.6 million respectively for electrification, housing,=

potable water and other critical areas to accelerate growth. The roads, highway and transport sector has been allocated GH¢354.= 1 million for road construction in various parts of the country. Under the social sector infrastructure, education and health have both been allocat= ed GH¢2.9 billion. In addition, the MiDA projects in agriculture, transportation and ru= ral development programmes under an integrated agricultural development appro= ach in 2011 would amount to GH¢354.8 million. On disbursement of project loans and grants development partners hav= e significantly improved on the predictability of their direct budget suppo= rt to the government.

Unfortunately, a large part of the financial resources provided by development partners remained unutilised. Dr Duffuor said the slow disbursements of funds were as a result of inadequate matching funds for projects; difficulty in project design; non=

adherence to disbursement procedures; poor management and supervision of projects; and ineffective reporting systems.

To address the slow disbursement of project loans and grants, the Finance Minister said, steps were being taken to ensure a high disburseme= nt rate of donor funds especially in the 2011 priority areas. These include the provision of adequate counterpart funds for the project loans and grants. In addition, project management and procurement guidelines and train= ing would be provided for all staff managing projects with support from development partners.

Efforts would also be made to improve on effective monitoring of projects through the development of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan and schedule to guide project implementation. This would be complemented with quarterly projects meetings of secto= r ministries, development partners and Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Duffuor said. 18 Nov. 10