The 2013 Budget Statement

Communications
205. Mr. Speaker, in line with the Government’s commitment to accelerated
development, access to Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) has been identified as a necessity to advance this agenda. In
this regard, the Government will continue the construction of the 600
km rural-urban fibre optic broadband infrastructure from Ho to Bawku.
Education
206. Mr. Speaker, over the next four years, Government will construct 200
new community non-boarding senior high schools. This year, GH¢173
million will be provided for the construction of 50 community nonboarding
schools. An amount of GH¢89 million will be provided for the
removal of schools under trees while GH¢62 million will be provided
for 10 colleges of education.
207. Mr. Speaker, Government will present a draft Bill to Parliament for the
establishment of a new University for Sustainable Environmental
Development and Research in the Eastern Region. GH¢5 million has
been allocated for preparatory works towards the establishment of the
Eastern Region University.
208. Mr. Speaker, Government will continue to provide free uniforms for
pupils in basic schools in deprived districts. Capitation Grant and free
exercise books will be provided to approximately 5.7 million basic
school pupils nationwide as well as subsidy for 410,109 registered
BECE candidates.
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209. Mr. Speaker, to ensure that education is accessible to children with
special needs, Government will continue to provide feeding to over
4,557 pupils in special schools. The Ministry would also facilitate the
ongoing construction of Assessment Centres as well as equip special
education units.
210. To attain the target of 95 percent of trained teachers at all levels by
2015, the Ghana Partnership for Education Grant will be used to train
at least 5,000 teachers in the Untrained Teachers Diploma in Basic
Education (UTDBE) qualification. Government together with its donor
partners will support 57 deprived districts and basic schools in support
of planning, monitoring and delivery of basic education services in
deprived districts.
Youth and Sports
211. Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the inability of the Black Stars to win the
prestigious 2013 African Cup of Nations tournament in South Africa,
Government will continue to support the team to participate in the
Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
212. Mr. Speaker, the Youth Enterprise Development Project will take off. It
is estimated that over 300,000 jobs will be created in the
entrepreneurial and self-employment modules.
Gender, Children and Social Protection
213. Mr. Speaker, Government will engage stakeholders on the draft
National Gender Policy (NGP) to validate the document before
submission to cabinet. In addition, the Ministry will continue to
implement the Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development
Project (GRSCDP) to assess the performance of Ghanaian women,
micro entrepreneurs and the youth to increase their access to both
financial and non-financial services.
214. A special programme to deal with the peculiar hygiene needs of the
adolescent girl to improve their retention in schools
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Health
215. Mr. Speaker, Government will undertake the following to improve the
delivery of quality health services in the country:
 Strengthen governance and improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of the health system.
 Improve access to quality maternal, neonatal, child and
adolescent health and nutrition services.
 Bridging equity gaps in access to health care and ensure
sustainable financing arrangements that protect the poor.
 Intensify prevention and control of communicable and noncommunicable
diseases.
 Strengthen institutional care including mental health service
delivery.
216. Mr. Speaker, Government will scale up coverage of HIV Prevention of
Mother–to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) towards elimination target by
2015.
217. Mr. Speaker, for infrastructural development, the priority projects for
this year are as follows:
 The Construction of 5 polyclinics in Brong Ahafo region;
 Construction of 597 capacity bed in University of Ghana
Teaching Hospital at Legon;
 Expansion of Radiotherapy and Nuclear medicine centres at
Korle-bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals;
 Expansion of Health Training Institutions;
 Upgrading and rehabilitation of Greater Accra Regional Hospital
(Ridge Hospital) and the Tamale Teaching Hospital (phase ІІ);
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 Supply and installation of hospital beds and other medical
equipment for various hospitals nationwide;
 Construction of trauma and acute pain centre at Korle-Bu;
 Design construction and furnishing of 7 district hospitals (Abetifi,
Fomena, Dodowa, Garu Timpane, Takoradi Metropolitan,
Kumawu and Sekondi);
 Completion of works on District Hospital at Tarkwa;
 Continue work on Maternity Block for Tema General Hospital;
 Continue works on Maternity & Children’s Block at Komfo
Anokye Teaching Hospital;
 Procurement of 200 Ambulances; and
 Supply of assorted equipment for replacement in various
hospitals nationwide.
GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC SAFETY
218. Mr. Speaker, Parliament will complete the establishment of a Fiscal
Analysis Office (FAO) to provide in-house capacity on fiscal, financial
and budget analysis and will also support the work of Parliament
across its legislative, representation and oversight functions.
219. Mr. Speaker, the Police Service in collaboration with other security
agencies will continue to maintain peace, internal security and stability
to ensure conducive environment for accelerated socio-economic
development. In this regard, the Special Weapons and Tactic (SWAT)
Unit will undergo special training to enhance their professional outlook
in order to enhance crime prevention and control.
220. Mr. Speaker, the Fire Service will provide adequate fire hydrants to
enhance fire-fighting, ensure that Metropolitan, Municipal and District
Assemblies (MMDAs) improve upon market fire safety to prevent and
contain fire outbreaks in the markets.
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Poverty and Social Protection Programmes
221. Going forward, Government spending on poverty will focus on
reducing inequalities – inequalities between north and south, between
women and men, and between various occupational groupings.
Government will work with the private sector to translate economic
growth into the creation of jobs especially for the youth. It will also
support various skills development programmes. We will work to
ensure that we reduce extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition.
Government will continue to improve access to safe water, maternal
and child health and also provide social safety nets for the vulnerable
in society. Making progress towards the MDG targets which are almost
at the finishing line will be our priority this year, making sure we
sustain progress so far made and continuing to address the
challenges.
222. Mr. Speaker, beneficiaries who have served their two-year internship
and those whose internships have been renewed for additional one
year will be exited. In this regard, the Community Education Teaching
Assistants (CETA) and Health Extension Workers (HEW) totaling about
50,000 who have served 3 years and above on the Programme will be
exited.
223. The Agency will extend the biometric system which was piloted in the
Eastern Region to all the other regions to improve and sanitize the
payroll system.
224. Mr. Speaker, the issue of job creation has become a global challenge,
especially in the wake of the global financial meltdown. Whilst Ghana
Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA, previously
known as the National Youth Employment Programme – NYEP) and
other schemes have provided some short-term reliefs, government is
developing more sustainable solutions to the employment problem by
linking more effectively with the private sector and other communityoriented
efforts to create and sustain employment. As a way of
consolidating the People First Social Compact that underpins the social
democratic principles of the NDC government, we will continue to
provide the public and private sectors with the needed incentives that
would facilitate business expansion and job creation, enable the youth
to enter and stay in worthy and skill-based employment through
various forms of industry-supported schemes.
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225. In this regard, Government will also revamp existing credit schemes
such as MASLOC and Venture Capital, alongside new schemes, such
as the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Fund to provide financial
leverage to aspiring entrepreneurs as part of the job creation agenda.
226. Mr. Speaker, the National School Feeding Policy will be launched and
implemented. The programme will also collaborate with NAFCO to
introduce other food commodities other than rice.
227. Mr. Speaker, the program will be expanded to cover 60,000
beneficiaries. Needs assessment will be conducted to determine new
viable businesses in 4 regions. The development of the monitoring and
evaluation framework will be finalized.
CONCLUSION
228. Mr. Speaker, in summary, the policies outlined in this Budget seek to
sustain confidence in the future of the Ghanaian economy. Towards
this end, we have fashioned and will continue to fashion pragmatic
policies to correct imbalances that threaten our economic aspirations
and lay a firm foundation for consolidating our middle income country
status.
 We are determined to realign expenditures, especially, on nonfunded
projects, Personnel Emoluments, which is now out of
proportion to expenditures on Goods and Services as well as
infrastructure developments.
 We are determined to continue with measures and programmes
that give effect to our commitment to the welfare of the
vulnerable members of our society, through judicious allocation
of resources.
 We are determined to avoid the phenomenon of long delays in
completing government projects, and ensure that all major
capital projects have clearly identified sources of finance without
which there will be no approval by the Ministry of Finance.
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 We are determined to improve coordination of central
government programmes with the MMDAs that control statutory
funds.
229. Mr. Speaker, thus far, we have managed to push the economy onto a
higher growth trajectory, maintained relative macroeconomic stability
in the midst of the turbulent global financial crises and attracted
sizeable investments into critical sectors of the economy. The
exchange rate of the cedi against Ghana’s trading partners has
stabilized. Inflation has been in single digit for over 2 years.
230. Our delivery of critical economic and physical infrastructure has been
unparalleled and will continue.
231. The administration of H.E. John Mahama will remain faithful to the
NDC’s philosophy of social democracy and continue with well-targeted
social intervention programmes for the benefit of all the people of
Ghana. Indeed, the Better Ghana Agenda continues unabated.
232. Mr. Speaker, every country in the world is experiencing its fair share
of economic challenges. However, we in Ghana have reason to feel
confident in the future of the Ghanaian economy judging from our
overall performance. We must all understand that if we work together
to overcome the current challenges, we all stand to benefit from the
opportunities that would be created. We must not and should not seek
refuge in blame games. This is not the time for that.
233. I believe in solving problems as and when they confront us. That is
what efficient and effective governance is all about. As the Minister for
Finance, I will keep an open mind and remain receptive to good ideas
that will help advance our goal of attaining High Middle Income Status
and spread the benefits to all Ghanaians within the shortest possible
time.
234. Mr. Speaker, I beg to move.

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