By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Deputy Minister of Finance, Mrs Abena Osei-Asare says GHC20 billion (GHC20b) proposed cut in government expenditure is very prudent considering the time in which the country find itself in.
Justifying the government’s proposal to cut expenditure by GH¢20 billion in the 2023 Mid-year budget review the Deputy Minister indicated the amount is sufficient for the country’s current state.
During the presentation of the budget review in Parliament on Monday, July 31, 2023, the Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta explained that the reduction was necessary due to underperformance in oil revenues, although tax revenues had shown improvements in the first six months of the year 2023.
Mr. Ofori-Atta cited changes in global oil prices as the reason for the shortfall in oil revenues.
He went further to propose a downward revision of the Appropriation from GH¢227.7 billion as presented and approved in November 2022 to GH¢206 billion in line with Regulations 24 sub-regulation (3) of the Public Financial Management Act Regulations 2019 (L.I. 2378).
“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.
Addressing the media on the back of his boss’s proposal, Mr Osei-Asare emphasized that the government’s yearly goods and services expenditure amounted to less than GH¢10 billion.
Additionally, she pointed out that the entire goods and services budget for Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) throughout the financial year amounted to less than GH¢20 billion.
The Deputy Finance Minister maintained that considering the current economic situation, the GH¢20 billion cut was more than sufficient.
She also highlighted the need to avoid excessive contraction of the economy to ensure ongoing economic activities and development.
“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. You cannot also contract the economy to a certain extent when you do that, nothing happens, nothing goes on,” Mrs Osei-Asare added.