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Asempa budget is now asembone budget - Minority
A Former Deputy Finance Minister, Casiel Ato Forson said the government has failed to achieve any of its revenue targets.
Former deputy Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson
He was said this few minutes after the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta presented the 2017 mid-year budget review to Parliament.
“Government has failed to achieve its revenue targets. We are cutting down on the budget for goods and services by GhC 600 million. We are paying people but they don’t have the resources to work with. The budget is being revised from Asempa budget to Asembↄne budget.”
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“The expectation was that from q1 to q2 the outturn will be 2.7 billion but the outturn is 2.1 billion which is another cut. What this means is that there is a shortfall of almost 600 million. Put the two together. Tax revenue and non-tax revenue. The shortfall so far is GHC 2. 7 billion,” he added.
According to him, the Minister presented only cosmetic figures which are not the reality.
“The numbers that we are seeing here are cosmetic. The government is accumulating arrears and failing to pay contractors. This is artificially compressed.”
Meanwhile the Member of Parliament (MP) for Keta South, Fiifi Kwetey also urged Ofori Atta to hasten slowly.
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“Let me congratulate him and also tell him to hasten slowly. When he reaches the moment where inflation has gone down into single digit he can come for some boasting. When he reaches a moment where he is able to build the economy of Ghana to at least 14 percent he can come for some praises. When he is able to reach a moment when he is able to take treasury bills to below 10 % to about 9 % he can come for some praises but until then it is important for the Minister of Finance to hasten slowly because he has not achieved much.”
Kwetey denied that the NPP inherited a weak economy. saying “If someone met 8 percent inflation in 2009 and you are meeting inflation that is 15.4 declining downwards you obviously know that you are inheriting a much better economy than what someone inherited before you.”
He rather urged the NPP to fulfil its campaign promises made ahead of the 2016 general election.
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