SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT in certain capacities of the District Assemblies would greatly enhance ownership and accelerate the sociodevelopment process. These include the capacity to: ? ? ? Collect and analyse data; Develop projects to be financed under the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) and funds of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative; and Generate own funds from market tolls, property rates and other levies to finance development programmes. 29. Participants also stated that there is a need for improvement in the way the consultative and participatory processes are carried out to ensure that the underlying objectives of self-reliance, ownership and sustainability are achieved. 30. There were no suggestions as to specific measures for effecting change. Nor was the issue addressed of improvements requiring capacity increases versus those that could be made simply by enhancing efficiency without adding capacity at a national or even local level. Evidently, the primary objective has been to send a message to the authorities that something should be done to make further progress in the programmes concerned, and that civil society and business were willing and able to assist in coming up with solutions. 31. Implementing self-reliant, sustainable poverty reduction programmes that create wealth requires maximum consultation, participation, coordination and ownership by all stakeholders. Although the GPRS goals are geared towards self-reliance and sustainability, there is ample scope for improvement, notwithstanding the progress made so far. 32. Objectives of growth, inflation and currency stability require rather conservative macroeconomic policies that encourage saving and investment, contain certain government expenditure, and limit monetary expansion in relation to real output growth. The objectives of reducing poverty, enhancing access to basic services and facilities, and reducing inequities require some bias towards consumption and progressive income distributional policies. In dealing with the apparent trade-offs, government policy-making, as well as cooperation amongst societal agents as a whole, will be challenged. 33. In a culture of shared growth, as evidenced in the high-performing countries of East Asia, Ghanaians would be willing to work hard to contribute to high economic growth. There would be credible expectations that everyone would share in the growth via income distribution mechanisms that are accepted as fair. 123