THE government has spent over ¢2 trillion to address the energy crisis this year, says Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.

According to him, the government had to restructure its budget this year to deal with the energy problem, adding that "it took a lot of effort and dedication to address the crisis", which is almost over.

The Minister, opening the third Trade and Industry forum in Accra yesterday, said that while the government acknowledged that the crisis affected businesses, it does not prevent them from meeting their tax obligations.

He reminded them that the crisis brought about difficult choices for the government and businesses which created trade off in the management of budgets.

On the preparation of the national budget, he announced that preparations for the 2008-2010 budget have started and so far policy hearings have been concluded, with technical discussions on the 2008 budget underway.

"We are trying to conform to the budget calender so that we can present it to Parliament by the middle of November," he said.

Giving an outlook of the budget for 2008, which is an election year, he said the government does not intend to spend excessively just for election purposes.

He gave the assurance that fiscal discipline would be exercised, adding that the focus would be on limited but critical and high impact yielding projects in the energy, roads, water and housing sectors.

"I want to assure that even though it will be an election year, the government is resolved to maintain the same discipline we exercised in 2004 since it is not in the national interest to overspend in an election year," he said.

The Minister affirmed government’s commitment towards the provision of the necessary infrastructure, especially in the energy and road sector, and called for the support of all stakeholders.

The forum attended by representatives of trade and business organisations, policy makers and researchers is to create a platform for dialogue towards advancing the trade and industry sectors of the economy.

Organised by the Trade and Industry Ministry, the forum was also to solicit contributions from the private sector into the formulation of the 2008 national budget.