Adnan Adams Mohammed
As the government prepares to present the Mid-year budget review on July 27 by the Finance Minister, many stakeholders are calling for expenditure slash.
According to the minority leader in parliament and a renowned economist, the government has been advised to announce measures it has put in place to cut down expenditure in its Mid-Year Budget Review. They believe there is a massive room for expenditure cuts.
Already, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has asked Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to present the mid-year budget before the scheduled 27 July 2023 date since the house would rise sine die on 3 August 2023. But, speaking on the pending presentation of the budget review, the minority leader has vowed that, his side will block any attempts by the government to increase taxes during the mid-year budget review.
“If I look carefully, there is a massive room for expenditure cuts, but the government obviously is indiscipline, and they don’t seem to care”, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson posited in a radio interview last week. “They want to live large on the back of the people of Ghana. So, they need to cut that kind of expenditure and if I am the one in charge or responsible, I would rather go for a cut in expenditure as against a tax measure or an increase in taxation.”
Prior to the leader’s comment, Professor Peter Quartey, a profound Economist with the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana advised the government to update Ghanaians on its expected effort in cutting down expenditure in its Mid-Year Budget Review.
The economist believes that will build investor confidence and attract more foreign direct investments into the economy.
Speaking at the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce National Dialogue Series, he called for a more transparent move on the side of government for all sectors, while explaining that, the creation of an enabling environment for the private sector would trigger more growth.
“We heard a lot of talks about cutting down expenditure but the numbers should show for us to see how well we have done to ensure stability and what new measures to be taken to support the sector”, Prof. Quartey said in his speech.
“We need to stimulate growth to have the private sector support in the creation of jobs. We need to make sure we allocate our resources judiciously,” he added.
Also, Professor Quartey is pushing for more market interventions by the Bank of Ghana to sustain the cedi’s recent good run.
The cedi is said to have appreciated by more than 1.0% against the dollar since June this year, based on data from some commercial banks.
Professor Quartey urged the Bank of Ghana to do more to ensure that the cedi’s outlook remains favorable.
”The Central Bank should continue to implement the exchange regulations so that we don’t allow the black market to determine the space. They need to streamline the activities of the exchange rate market”, he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Alban Bagbin in his plea to the finance minister to present the budget review before the initial scheduled date said: “The House has to rise before August 9 because there are commitments that the House cannot ignore which we will have to be part of.”
“Some of these commitments are international and some are domestic, so, we have to be on recess before that.
“So, this is a notice to the Minister of Finance to try, as much as possible, to submit the mid-year budget and supplementary budget review earlier than being perceived because we have to work on it and approve it before August 10.”
“And, so, the last day we could get to convene and sit here could be only August 3, and we cannot go beyond that because even with the August 3, we would have been late to attending the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association [programme].”
