Casiel Ato Forson, former Deputy Finance Minister and Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam has described the mid-year budget statement presented to Parliament by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta as hopeless and offers nothing new.
The member of the Finance Committee in Parliament was reacting to the budget statement that was presented on the floor of parliament. He noted that given the bad state of the economy, he expected the Finance Minister to come up with factual solutions and take right decisions to help put the economy on the right track.
“It is indeed hopeless. There is nothing new in the statement. The Ghanaian economy is in a bad state. In that sense, I would have thought that this government would have learnt something and take right decisions. But sadly, if you look at the statement that was read to us, almost every single revenue item is under performing.
“The government revenue has underperformed within the first six months of the year by approximately GHc 2billion.”
Ato Forson
Furthermore, Dr Ato Forson expressed his worry and disappointment with the budget and described it as ‘nothing but cosmetic’. He also predicted that at the end of the year 2021, all fiscal targets will be missed.
“Apart from all the revenue items coming down, the biggest of my worry is that this budget is nothing but cosmetic. Cosmetic in the sense that at the end of the year 2021, we will come back and see every single fiscal target being missed.”
Ato Forson
Meanwhile, he bemoaned the fact that government has not started the hospitals it promised, yet surprisingly reduced the projected cost.
“As we speak, they have not commenced agenda 111 for the construction of the 111 district hospitals. In the original they projected GHc1.4 billion for that project. Unfortunately, in the mid-year review, they have reduced it to something over GHC 700 million. I was expecting that the government will rather increase the allocation for agenda 111 instead of increasing the allocation for good and services.”
Ato Forson
However, Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Ekow Vincent Assafuah stated that Ghana’s economy is picking up from the shocks of the coronavirus pandemic.
“There is hope on the horizon. Our economy is picking up from the shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic. Keep hope alive. Ghana is working.”
Ekow Vincent
The Finance Minister Mr Ofori Atta presented Mid-year budget to Parliament yesterday, July 29, 2021.
Contrary to the views held by Dr Ato Forson, the finance minister stated that for the first time in the history of the fourth republic, the exchange rate did not see a spike after an election year.
He also stated that cumulatively, from the beginning of the year to date, the exchange rate has depreciated by only 0.6 per cent against the US dollars and appreciated by 3.6 per cent against the Euro.
Moreover, he also touted the achievements of the government and many social interventions such as: the free SHS, free water, and free electricity.
He also announced that as part of providing jobs for the youth, an online investment hub will be established for youth across the country to access information for the purpose of establishing businesses. “Under this initiative, it is estimated that over 100,000 jobs will be created.”
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