The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has assured their living standards by 2010, if it assumes the political administration of the country, its flagbearer, Mr. John Agyekum Kuffour, has stated, "The national living standards of Ghanaians will be raised and the average per capita income will be more than double from the current shamefully low level of $370 to $1,000 by 2010.

This is our pledge,: he said. Mr. Kuffour said this when he led an NPP delegation to interact with national executive members of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce in Accra.

The delegation presented the party's manifesto, "AGENDA FOR POSITIVE CHANGE," which is the blueprint of the party, to Mr. Ato Ampiah, President of the Chamber, and impressed on its members NPP's intention to restructure all sectors of the economy if voted into power in this year's election.

The NPP flagbearer catalogued what he termed the economic problems of the country and blamed the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for mismanaging the economy.

After 20 years of uninterrupted (PNDC) rule, official statistics confirm that 40 per cent of the population, almost half of the population, lives below the poverty line, with a quarter in hard core poverty.

80 per cent of the poor are rural dwellers. Unemployment, especially amongst the youth is widespread and extensive.

Mr. Kuffour said the nation needs new policies, direction and measures in order to free the people from economic deprivation and social hardships.

He said it is only the NPP which can offer the nation a new political leadership and prudent sense of focus and direction to ensure the social and economic transformation of the country.

It is time our businessmen and women were empowered to compete effectively on the domestic, regional and global markets. This is the path to national prosperity, he stressed.

The NPP flagbearer said his government will demand of each and very Ghanaian citizen hard work and initiative, a sense of personal responsibility and a deep commitment to the welfare of the country to ensure the success of its policies.

Mr. Ampiah said the Chamber of Commerce is prepared to work with any party that wins political power in this year's elections since the body is a political.

He expressed the concern about the economic crisis that the country was going through and called for collective efforts on the part of all stakeholders to address the issues.