Parliament approves 1.88bn supplementary budget

Parliament on Thursday approved the GHC1.88 billion supplementary budget request by the Mahama-led administration.

In addition, the supplementary appropriation bill, which will guide the distribution of the money, was passed.

Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah, MP for New Juabeng South, noted that government lukewarm attitude toward the IMF programme led investors to shun Ghana's Eurobond.

Investors on Thursday shunned Ghana's Eurobonds over fears government will not achieve its fiscal targets in an election year.

The government will monitor markets and revive the sale “at the optimal time and the right conditions,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Thursday after concluding investor meetings in the U.K. and U.S. It also capped a buyback tender for $500 million of 2017 notes at $100 million, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

However, the Minority Leader, Alban Sumani Bagbin debunked the assertions of the minority bench, saying the economy has witness transformational change.

He added that the supplementary estimates will go a long way to boost the economy.

The Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, on Monday on Monday, July 25, 2016, requested for a supplementary budget of GHC1.8 billion due to a plunge in commodities prices, shut down of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah and drop in crude oil prices on the international market.

He assured that government would resist budget overruns, often associated with elections, manage the public debt to ensure debt sustainability, sustain fiscal discipline and invest in infrastructure to ensure a better Ghana for all.