Koforidua, April 1, GNA - Prof Kofi Awoonor, Chairman of the Council of State, on Friday stressed the need for all key players in public administration to pay attention to policies, laws, processes and customs designed for the good governance of their organizations. He said good governance promoted harmony which translates into excellence in service delivery.

Professor Awoonor said this in a speech he read on behalf of President John Atta Mills at the opening of the fifth Conference of Public Service Chief Executives, Chief Directors and Chairpersons of Governing Boards/Councils in Koforidua on Friday. The four-day conference is under the theme 93Growth, Development and Job Creation: An agenda for Public Services Agencies". He urged Board and Council Chairperson and their Chief Executives to continue to work towards forging good working relations that will impact positively on the ability of their organizations to deliver on their mandates.

"At this moment, what our country needs is a selfless and committed public official whose focus is to ensure efficient and timely service delivery to our people". Prof Awoonor noted that through prudent fiscal management, the country had over the past two years, laid down a strong foundation for socio-economic development. "Despite the slowdown in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 4.1 percent in 2009 on account of the major challenges the new administration faced, by 2010 the growth rate had increased to 5.6 percent". "It is projected that for 2011, the real GDP will rise up to 11.5 percent, thanks in part to the commencement of oil and gas production".

He said inflation which peaked at 20.7 percent in 2008 had seen a downward trend adding 93For the first time in two decades, we were able to bring down the inflationary spiral to 9.4 percent in 2010"

Prof Awoonor said there had been a reduction in the fiscal deficit adding that the budget deficit was brought down to 9.7 percent of GDP in 2009 from 14.5 percent of GDP in 2008 on account of improved expenditure management and enhanced revenue mobilization. On interest rates, he noted that the country had witnessed a downward trend since June 2009. "The Central Bank rate has reduced steadily over the period, reaching 13.5 percent in December 2010. Treasury bill rates have similarly dropped, with the 91-day rate now at 15.5 percent. Commercial Banks' base and lending rates have also seen a downward turn". He said the country was emerging as one of the 93frontier economies" with potential to attract significant private capital inflows.

"As at the end of 2009, the foreign direct investments in Ghana amounted to USD551.30. This amount according to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) represents 88.92 percent of investments, with a total estimated value of USD 619.99 million and with about 44,000 job openings were registered". Prof Awoonor indicated that gross foreign reserves increased significantly from USD 3.5 billion (representing three months of imports cover) by December, 2010. "The external sector of the Ghanaian economy has also improved since 2009, with the trade deficit declining from 30 percent of GDP in 2008 to 14.5 percent of GDP in 2009. Similarly, the current account deficit has dropped from 18.7 percent of the GDP in 2008 to 10.5 percent of GDP in 2009". 01 April 11