By Kofi AHOVI
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) wants government to focus especially on job creation in its budget for 2011 fiscal year.
According to the TUC, the umbrella organization for labor in Ghana, government would have to move away from its inflation targeting policy to an employment targeting strategy in the next year budget, which would be presented by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning to Parliament next month.
The TUC made these suggestions in proposals to be submitted to the Finance Minister as part of inputs for next year’s budget.
In the document, dubbed “It’s time to create decent jobs for Ghanaians,” the Congress wants clear, measurable targets for employment creation on a region by region and district by district basis.
According to the TUC, government must assess its performance mainly on the number of jobs created during the year and refrain from using inflation as the main indicator of its performance.
It argues that the unemployment challenge facing the country requires direct intervention by government.
The TUC is worried about what it sees as government’s over-dependence on the prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund, an institution, it said, is overly concerned about monetary targets even at the expense of social development.
On the management of the anticipated oil revenue, TUC is also worried the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, in its current state, gives too much power to the Finance Minister without enough consultation with other stakeholders. It therefore wants a review.
On trade, it said government must take a second look at the country’s trade policy and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
According to the TUC, the current trade policy militates against the growth of private businesses. It also wants government to provide updates on the status of both the interim EPA and the ECOWAS EPA.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) wants government to focus especially on job creation in its budget for 2011 fiscal year.
According to the TUC, the umbrella organization for labor in Ghana, government would have to move away from its inflation targeting policy to an employment targeting strategy in the next year budget, which would be presented by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning to Parliament next month.
The TUC made these suggestions in proposals to be submitted to the Finance Minister as part of inputs for next year’s budget.
In the document, dubbed “It’s time to create decent jobs for Ghanaians,” the Congress wants clear, measurable targets for employment creation on a region by region and district by district basis.
According to the TUC, government must assess its performance mainly on the number of jobs created during the year and refrain from using inflation as the main indicator of its performance.
It argues that the unemployment challenge facing the country requires direct intervention by government.
The TUC is worried about what it sees as government’s over-dependence on the prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund, an institution, it said, is overly concerned about monetary targets even at the expense of social development.
On the management of the anticipated oil revenue, TUC is also worried the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill, in its current state, gives too much power to the Finance Minister without enough consultation with other stakeholders. It therefore wants a review.
On trade, it said government must take a second look at the country’s trade policy and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
According to the TUC, the current trade policy militates against the growth of private businesses. It also wants government to provide updates on the status of both the interim EPA and the ECOWAS EPA.
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