Mr. Speaker, the main objective of Government in 2003 was to consolidate the remarkable achievements chalked during the 2002 fiscal year.
Against this background, the economic policies of the NPP Government in 2003 were aimed at strengthening and sustaining economic growth, reducing inflationary pressures while ensuring effective implementation of the poverty reduction programmes of the GPRS.
I would like to recall the goals that we set for ourselves in the 2003 Budget Statement and Economic Policy that was presented on 27th February 2003, and subsequently approved by this House. The key macroeconomic targets were the following:
- a real GDP growth of at least 4.7 per cent;
- a reduction in the year-to-year rate of inflation from 15.2 per cent at end-December, 2002 to 9.0 per cent by end-December, 2003;
- an overall budget deficit of 3.1 per cent of GDP;
- a domestic primary budget surplus of 3.0 per cent of GDP; and
- rebuilding of gross official reserves equivalent to 2.3 months of imports
