Accra, Nov. 16, GNA – Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning on Wednesday said the fiscal policy of the government focuses mainly on the “Better Ghana Agenda” within the broad framework of the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda.

He said government would continue to ensure and sustain macroeconomic stability, enhanced competitiveness of Ghana’s private sector, accelerated agricultural modernization and natural resource management.

Dr Duffour said this when he presented the 2012 budget statement to the Parliament on the theme "Infrastructural development for accelerated growth and job creation".

The Finance Minister said government conscious of the next year’s election would continue to provide support to help ensure a free and fair election, which were part of government’s commitment to good governance.

He also outlined strategies for accomplishing projects and programmes initiated in the last three years by government in pursuit of the poverty reduction and economic empowerment agenda.

Highlights of the priority areas include improving the lives of Ghanaians through the implementation of strategic programmes to generate employment and provide essential services including, water, sanitation, physical infrastructure and good governance.

Dr Duffour said other areas which will receive attention are expenditure and amortization of loans for oil and gas infrastructure, agriculture modernization and capacity building.

He said “In line with government’s priorities outlined above, MDAs have been provided with the indicative ceilings for the 2012 - 2014 budgets adding that these ceilings have been provided as the hard budget constraint for all MDAs.

He said the indicative ceilings provided, exclude personnel emoluments but includes the provision of resources for goods and services administration and service and assets investment.

He said the ceilings had been aggregated to provide MDAs with the flexibility to allocate resources to their priority sectors adding that any additional allocation will be based on the outcome of the budget bilateral hearing and final Cabinet decision.

Dr Duffour said additional funding would be provided based on factors such as additional costs based on new government policy, a significant change in government strategies, cost of expansion in the provision of improved essential services.

He said the request for additional resources should be consistent with the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda and supported by Cabinet approval.

Dr Duffour said with the passage of the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, the Government of Ghana will, for the first time, include the projected resources from the oil revenues for government expenditure as part of the 2012 budget appropriation.

However considering the extensive institutional, administrative and legal arrangement and processes required, new instructions would be issued regarding the petroleum expenditures which would be communicated to the specific MDAs.