The presentation of Ghana’s mid-year budget review on the floor of Parliament scheduled for July 13, 2022 has been postponed.
The postponement is due to ongoing bailout discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the country’s economy, which are yet to be concluded.
The Majority leader and leader of government Business in Parliament, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, explained that due to the meetings with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) currently ongoing, which involves the Minister of Finance and his team, the review has been postponed two weeks further.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is now expected to present the mid-year budget review on July 27, 2022 instead. The decision to present the budget on 27th was also because the Speaker of Parliament has also indicated that he will not be available next week, leader of government Business in Parliament explained.
The IMF delegation in Ghana will later today, Tuesday, July 12, 2022 meet the Finance Committee of Parliament as part of the ongoing negotiations.
The team has been in Ghana since last week after the country declared its intent to return to the IMF for support. Ghana is expected to request support of almost $2 billion to shore up its finances.
The government announced on July 1, 2022 that it would hold formal talks with the IMF for economic support to address balance of payment challenges.
Ghana currently has a total public debt stock of GH¢391.9 billion, as of the end of the first quarter of 2022. The cedi is also the worst-performing African currency, after falling some 22 percent against the dollar this year.
Skyrocketing fuel prices and rising inflation have not also helped the economy to rebound. Government officials have blamed Ghana’s economic woes on the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Ahead of the meeting, a member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Isaac Adongo, sharing his expectations, said “I will ask them [the IMF] to open their eyes on arrears. The arrears of Ghana is in excess of GHS30 billion”.
The MP also urged the IMF to “go and sit at the Bank of Ghana and check how much they have given to Ghana.”
“In the previous programme that we had, we improved the inflationary targeting framework by reigning in what we call fiscal dominance over monetary policy”.
Isaac Adongo
Finance Minister was To have Presented Mid-Year Review Budget On 13th July
Chairman of the Business Committee, Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, hinted that the Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, was expected to present the Mid-Year Review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana and Supplementary Estimates for the 2022 Financial Year to the Honourable House on Wednesday 13th July 2022.
Considering the high cost of living including food and transportations in the country, it’s the expectation of the Members of Parliament that the Minister of Finance was to use the opportunity to announce some relief measures the Government is putting in place to cushion Ghanaians.
Hon. Kyei Mensah-Bonsu made this known to the House during the presentation of the Explanatory Memorandum on the Business Statement for the seventh week ending Friday, 8th July 2022.
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