Bolgatanga, Sept 14, GNA - The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Boniface Gambila, on Thursday reiterated that the regional disparity in terms of development was not the best and needed to be reversed. He mentioned the three Northern regions, the Volta, Eastern and the Central regions as examples of areas that were not at par with the rest of the regions in terms of development.

The Minister said this at a one-day Mid Year Budget Review Seminar organized in Bolgatanga by the Institute of Statistics, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Cornell University of the United Kingdom, University of Development Studies (UDS) and the Economic of Ghana Network for stakeholders in the Upper East Region. The purpose of the seminar was to provide an opportunity for intellectual appraisal of the environment within which the National Budget for 2006 was being implemented, while assessing the prospects for achieving targets.

It was also intended to encourage more informed decisions about economic policy-making in Ghana by a wider public.

Mr. Gambila said for proper development to take place, resources needed to be distributed equitably and fairly taking the peculiar status of the regions into consideration devoid of any parochial interest. He suggested that policy-makers could address the problems of the regional imbalances by catering for such deprived areas in the implementation of the Millennium Challenge Accounts (MCA) and the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPPRS II).

The Pro-Vice Chancellor of UDS, Professor Kaku Nokoe, urged northern scholars who are in the southern sector to return home to contribute their quota to the development of the area. Participants appealed to the government agencies to come out with strategies to generate income to supplement government budget to enable development to reach the deprived areas.

They also appealed to the central government to spread development fairly and equitably among the Regions.

Participants further expressed dismay about high interest rates charged by the banks and the refusal of most of the banks to grant loans to industries and appealed to stakeholders to re-examine the issue and address it without delay.