Abena Osei-Asare, the second deputy Finance Minister, has defended the GH20 billion reduction in spending, by claiming that it is sufficient for the nation at this time.

The government has proposed to reduce the appropriation from the GH227.7 billion that was presented and approved in November 2022 to GH206 billion, in accordance with Regulations 24 sub-regulation (3) of the Public Financial Management Act Regulations 2019 (L.I. 2378), as stated by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who presented the mid-year budget review to Parliament on Monday.

He stated that although tax revenue had increased in the first half of the year and the nation was on track to fulfill its goals for the year, oil revenues had fallen short of projections because of shifts in international pricing.

When asked if the cut was sufficient for the country, Mrs. Osei-Asare said that when the year’s goods and services are considered, they total less than GH10 billion. She then stated that this indicated that the total products and services provided by the MMDAs for the entire financial year total is less than GH20 billion.

“So, if you ask that, is the GH¢20 billion enough, it is way more than enough looking at the situation in which we find ourselves.”
Abena Osei-Asare

The second deputy Finance Minister said the government could not further weaken the economy, because doing so would prevent a number of things from happening. “You cannot also contract the economy to a certain extent. When you do that, nothing happens, nothing goes on,” she stated.

Finance Minister Deepened The Woes Of Ghanaians

The assertions made by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, regarding the development of the Ghanaian economy, on the other hand, were characterized as incorrect and deceptive by the Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson.

According to Dr. Ato Forson, the Akufo-Addo administration has really made Ghanaians’ problems worse.

After experiencing tremendous economic challenges in 2022, Mr. Ofori-Atta stated during the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review presented to Parliament on July 31 that Ghana is making small progress in reviving its economy.

He emphasized that the government’s goals and programs are starting to produce fruitful outcomes and asked the country to recognize the significant accomplishments made over the last three years.

However, Dr. Ato Forson argued that the data and facts provided, support the opposite in response to the Finance Minister’s assertion on the House floor.

He raised a number of issues with the situation of the economy. For instance, he cited “a downward revision to economic growth from 2.8% of GDP to 1.5% of GDP, showing a slower recovery than previously thought.”

“I say this because he has said to us that he’s revising economic growth from 2.8% of GDP to 1.5% of GDP. Again, he said to us here and now that he has borrowed 5.5 billion Ghana cedis from January to June, from the T-Bill market. Not long ago, this same Minister informed us that he will not borrow at all in the year 2023. And that going into the remaining parts of the year, he is going to borrow another 41 billion Ghana cedis.
“Aside from that, the Cedi depreciation we are seeing so far, it’s largely because we have defaulted in the payment of external interest and principal. That is why the cedi has depreciated.”
Ato Forson