[ 2015-01-30 ]

Government to decouple Economic Planning from Finance Ministry
The Government is to decouple Economic Planning
functions from the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Planning, to strengthen development
management by more closely linking plans with
budgets.

The decoupling will ensure that the National
Development Planning Commission (NDPC) takes over
the economic planning functions of the State.

The transfer of functions, according to Dr Nii Moi
Thompson, NDPC Director-General, will also ensure
that ultimately all Ministries, Departments and
Agencies (MDAs), as well as Municipal,
Metropolitan, and District Assemblies (MMDAs),
will work with the Commission, to align their
plans with national development priorities before
they are funded by the Ministry of Finance.

NDPC statement signed by Mr David Owusu-Amoah,
Head of Public Affairs, and copied to the Ghana
News Agency in Accra on Wednesday, explained that
President John Dramani Mahama had already given
directives for the decoupling.

The statement said the two institutions have met
several times to determine the scope and nature of
the transfer.

He cautioned, however, that the country’s
development efforts would be futile without
“extensive institutional reforms.”

In this regard, he said, the Commission has
incorporated “soft issues, ” such as work
attitudes, and “core national values, ” into
its medium-term development framework which are
being implemented by government.

According to the statement, the decoupling process
was disclosed to Heads of Development Cooperation
Agencies in Ghana, during a working visit to the
NDPC headquarters to familiarize themselves with
the work of the Commission.

The visit also gave the NDPC Director-General the
opportunity to explain President Mahama’s
Transformation Agenda, the Ghana Shared Growth and
Development Agenda Two (GSGDA 2), as well as
other development frameworks of interest to the
international development community in Ghana.

According to the statement, Dr Thompson also
discussed the legislative instrument that gives
the Commission the power to sanction MDAs and
MMDAs that do not comply with national planning
and budget guidelines, which has been endorsed by
the Attorney General’s Department and is ready
for Cabinet.

Dr. Thompson fielded a number of questions from
the delegation, including the relationship between
the Ministry of Finance and the Planning
Commission; the implications of a possible IMF
programme for Ghana’s growth and development
prospects; the role of the private sector in
national development; and efforts by government to
address weaknesses in development management.

With respect to a possible IMF programme for
Ghana, Dr. Thompson assured the delegation that
such a programme would focus mostly on short-term
macro-economic stabilization, while the Commission
would focus on medium-to-long-term economic growth
to complement the programme.

He added, “The Commission is working closely
with the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Ghana to
ensure a successful programme.”

The leader of the delegation, Mr. Jim Bever, USAID
Country Director, expressed appreciation to Dr.
Thompson and the NDPC, for granting them audience,
and hoped the two sides would meet more
frequently to share ideas.

It also included representatives from the United
Nations System, the African Development Bank, the
European Union, Germany, Denmark, France, and the
United Kingdom, among others.

Source - GNA

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