The 2022 mid-year budget review submitted by the Finance Minister is “nothing but hollow,” according to the minority caucus in Parliament.
The caucus claims that Ken Ofori-Atta blew a great opportunity to explain to Ghanaians the main problems impacting them and how those problems would be resolved.
Speaking to the media after the budget was delivered, Cassiel Ato Forson, a member of parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, claimed the presentation was very sparse.
The budget was “very empty. Everything in this country is not working yet the Minister responsible for Finance appeared before us and said nothing, he failed to address the very concerns of the ordinary Ghanaians.”
“Today, he comes here once again only to tell us that he has missed all the targets he set in the 2022 budget, every one of them,” he said.
While expecting Ken Ofori-Atta to address Ghana’s debt, the former deputy finance minister stated that “today, our public debt is in excess of 400 billion cedis yet the Minister in this document fails to talk about the public debt.”
As a result, he urged the New Patriotic Party to pass the reins to the opposition National Democratic Congress in order to stabilize the economy.
“We can do it, we have done it before,” he said.
The Finance Minister in presenting the mid-year budget review said that the overall Real GDP for 2021 grew strongly by 5.4 percent compared to 0.5 percent recorded in 2020 and the revised 2021 annual target of 5.1 percent.
He disclosed that non-oil GDP growth also increased to 6.9 percent compared to a growth of 1.0 percent recorded in 2020, and the revised 2021 target of 7.0 percent while the overall budget deficit of GH¢28,095 million (5.6% of GDP), against a deficit target of GH¢19,730 million (3.9% of GDP).
“Furthermore, based on the developments for the first six months of 2022 and the outlook for the rest of the year, we have accordingly revised the macro-fiscal targets for 2022 as follows: Overall GDP growth rate of 3.7 percent, down from 5.8 percent; Non-Oil GDP growth rate of 4.3 percent, down from 5.9 percent, End period inflation of 28.5 percent, up from 8 percent; the overall fiscal deficit of 6.6% of GDP, down from 7.4%”, he announced.
