Mr. Speaker, in our bid to further consolidate the progress made in previous years, we set goals for ourselves in 2004 which were consistent with the GPRS. These goals included the following:
- increasing revenue to create scope for increased poverty-related spending and accelerated development;
- strengthening public expenditure management; and
- using an appropriate mix of fiscal and monetary policies to deliver on our declared objectives of dampening inflationary expectations with a view to reducing the rate of inflation to single digit levels and sustaining overall macroeconomic stability.
We also indicated that with the policies outlined in the Budget Statement, Ghana would reach the Completion Point under the enhanced HIPC Initiative during the course of the 2004 fiscal year. Indeed Ghana reached the Completion Point in July 2004.
