Ghana: Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to present mid-year budget review next week

The Finance Minister of Ghana, Ken Ofori-Atta has said that the ministry is going to present the mid-year budget review to Parliament on Thursday 23rd July 2020, according to a news report by Citi NewRoom.

This is in accordance with Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).

According to the news report, the presentation of the statement on the review of government projections for the 2020 financial year will be backed by a request for supplementary estimates.

Government projections for the 2020 financial year have largely been affected by the economic implications of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Minister will also be expected to provide to Parliament a clear plan on how the government intends to pay back GHS10 billion it borrowed from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the 219 million dollars transferred from the Stabilization Fund to the Contingency fund to help deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, various groups have already made cases for specific areas they want the government to prioritize in the budget review.

The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) and SEND GHANA earlier this month called on the government to scale up agriculture spending and prioritize the sector to save livelihoods, as it prepares its mid-year budget review and supplementary estimates for 2020.

Professor Godfred Bokpin, an Economist, while speaking at a public forum organized by the organizations said, the food index in Ghana has surged since the country reported its first case of Coronavirus disease and the fear of COVID-19 is collapsing economies.

Bokpin argued that scaling up agriculture spending in the mid-year budget, not as a favor but as a necessity will help sustain the economy of Ghana and protect livelihoods.

He urged the government to improve and scale-up efficiency in existing agriculture sector interventions such as subsidy on fertilizers among others.

Last month, the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) platform on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also called on the government to increase budgetary allocations for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in its 2020 mid-year budget statement.