Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Budget to unveil initiatives to support private sector


Vice President Amissah-Arthur with
Diana Layfield(middle) and other Stanchart executives
in a group photo after the meeting
By Edmund Mingle
The government will unveil a number of initiatives, in the next budget to support the private sector, says Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.

“We will request cooperation and partnership of the financial institutions in undertaking these initiatives,” he said, without giving details of the initiatives.

The Vice President made the call during a meeting with executives of Standard Chartered Bank, led by Diana Layfield, Standchart’s Regional Chief Executive Officer for Africa, at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday.
He said there was a need to have the low inflation rate in the country translated into jobs and business growth.

The Vice President therefore called for increased support from financial institutions towards improving access to credit to aid effective business growth across the country.

He said partnering the government in that regard would also ensure that the cost of credit was reduced to enable small scale businesses to secure the needed support to develop for the benefit of the economy.
In that regard, he charged Standard Chartered Bank, and local banks to spearhead the reduction in cost of credit provided for the SMEs.

He lauded the relations between the government and Stanchart, and expressed optimistic that more dividends would accrue from the partnership for the benefits of the local economy.

Mrs. Layfield, for her part commended Ghana for the steady economic growth over the years, saying the bank was impressed about the gains.

She is in Accra for the bank’s regional meeting, and according to her, the choice of Ghana for the meeting reflects the bank’s confidence in the Ghanaian economy.

She said the bank was impressed about profile of Ghana’s economic prospects, and declared the bank’s intention to increase its investment in Ghana.
“Ghana’s economic reforms are hugely encouraging for the bank,” she said, and assured the government of more collaboration.
END

Thursday, February 7, 2013

President moves into Flagstaff House


Thursday, February 7, 2013

By Edmund Mingle
The seat of government will today officially move from the Castle, Osu to the Flag Staff House Kanda.
 The movement will complete the phased relocation of the Presidency from the Castle to the new presidential edifice.

The frontage of the Flagstaff House, the new seat of government.
 A short ceremony has been planned commemorate the movement to the Flag Staff House, which was first occupied by the Vice President, Kwesi Amissah-Arthur

The edifice, which has been shrouded in controversy, was built by the New Patriotic Party government.

 After the National Democratic Congress government took office in 2009, the late former President Mills could not occupy it because of defects in the building and security concerns.
 He also used the building for ceremonial diplomatic events, while part of the building was temporarily given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the gutting of its multi-storey office.

After taking office, President John Mahama set up a committee to work on the structural defects and the security concerns, to allow the full utilization of the edifice.

Before the Vice President moved in as part of a phased relocation, stringent efforts were made to address the structural defects, while security was beefed up in and around the structure.

The staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are expected to soon move out to their new building near the Kotoka International Airport to provide adequate office pace for the Presidential Staffers and support staff.
According to Mahama Ayariga, the President will not be residing in the Flagstaff House, but only conduct official government business there.

He said that government would make indications later should the President decide to inhabit the presidential residence attached to the office.