Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to present the 2018 Budget and Economic Policy Statement to Parliament today, Wednesday, 15 November, 2017.
Ministries, Departments and Agencies will attract a mass of government funds while infrastructure development will receive a smaller fraction in the 2018 budget which the Finance Minister will put out in a few hours.
The government will spend almost 61 Billion Ghana Cedis to keep the economy afloat in the next financial year. Next year’s budget has also been structured to fill the gaps which were left by the 2017 budget.
For example, the failed promise of allocating a million Dollars per Constituency is calculated to be redeemed this year. It appears Mobile Money Services will be spared any taxes apparently in response to the caution issued by the Minority.
Ahead of the budget reading, the Minority in Parliament has chastised government’s management of the economy citing the rising public debt stock as a situation that can take Ghana back to the status of HIPC [Heavily Indebted Poor Country] by the end of 2019.
They also warned that Ghanaians will experience “severe hardship” equivalent to the 1983 experience.
But the President, Nana Akufo- Addo has assured that electricity tariffs will be reviewed downwards in the 2018 budget to bring some relieve to citizens.
