According to Deputy Finance Minister Abena Osei-Asare, the government’s decision to cut expenditure by GH¢20 billion is appropriate for the current situation of the country.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta presented this reduction in the mid-year budget review to Parliament on Monday.
The Appropriation amount has been decreased from GH¢227.7 billion, which was previously presented and approved in November 2022, to GH¢206 billion in compliance with Regulation 24 sub-regulation (3) of the Public Financial Management Act Regulations 2019 (L.I. 2378).
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The Minister explained that the country in the first six months of the year had seen improvements in tax revenue and is on course to meet its targets for the year, but oil revenues had fallen short of expectations due to changes in global prices.
“We will, therefore, undertake a downward review of expenditures to align with the underperformance of some of our revenue handles. This will impact the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) and thus reduce the 2023 Appropriation,” he added.
Responding to whether the cut was enough for the country in an interview with Bernard Avle on Point of View on Citi TV on Monday, Mrs. Osei-Asare said that “When you look at the year’s goods and services, it is less than GH¢10 billion. The whole MMDAs, their goods and services for the whole financial year is less than GH¢20.”
“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.”
The Deputy Finance Minister further said that the government could not also contract the economy more as doing so could hamper a lot of things from taking place.
“You cannot also contract the economy to a certain extent. When you do that, nothing happens, nothing goes on,” she stated.