President John Evans Atta Mills on Thursday said about 80 per cent of Public Service Workers were migrated onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) last year.

However, he admitted that in spite of the steady progress made in the implementation of the new pay policy, the government regretted the operational hiccup.

Presenting the 2012 State of the Nation Address to Parliament, President Mills said the government regretted the hiccups but commended organised labour and associations for their continued support and collaboration for a successful implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy.

He said with the huge increase in the wage bill resulting from the implementation of the SSSS, “the government expects that there will be commensurate increase in efficiency and productivity in the Public Services”.

President Mills said a recent report by the World Bank which alerted developing countries to further economic shocks this year and the need for contingency planning had put the Government on high alert “We are watching developments in the global economy with hope and apprehension”.

He said easing of the global crisis was likely to give rise to economic stability and expansion that would impact on the economy; apprehension, because further weakening of the Highly Indebted Rich Countries (HIRCs) and of the global economy would have serious economic consequences not least on commodity prices.

President Mills said notwithstanding the global economic uncertainties, the government would continue to make progress in the management of the national economy.

He said the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) would be used to address the peculiar poverty related problems in the three Northern Regions and CEDECOM in the Central Region.

President Mills explained that CEDECOM was the shell around which the Western Corridor Development Authority would be created.

He said the creation of other development authorities mentioned in the 2011 State of the Nation address were receiving active attention at the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and would be followed in the course of the year.