Minority disappointed with 2020 Budget

The Minority in Parliament has described the 2020 Budget presented by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, as a ‘Bye Bye Budget’.

According to them, the government had not been truthful to Ghanaians on the realities on the ground in relation to the economy, as Ghanaians were worse off under the Akufo-Addo administration than they were under the erstwhile Mahama administration.

An NDC Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Mr Fiifi Kwetey, said he was disappointed because with the resources available to the NPP government, it had not done well.

In an interview, Mr Kwetey said the government had not done much to provide the infrastructure Ghanaians needed and, therefore, Ghanaians would show the NPP the exit, come 2020.

 According to him, the government’s claim that it had reduced taxes was not true, as it was taking more taxes from the utilities.

He said the government had also borrowed more, thereby increasing the national debt far more than the NDC did in the same period it was in power.

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Fiscal misreporting

Stating his position,  Mr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Ranking Member of the Finance Committee, said he had expected the Finance Minister to correct all the fiscal misreporting in the budget, but that did not happen.

He said he was so sad when he read the details of the budget, especially the aspect where the government said it was going to borrow from the Eurobond market for infrastructure.

Mr Forson said it was a fact that the government could not provide infrastructure for senior high schools, which had led to the double-track system; meanwhile, Ghanaians paid taxes to the government to undertake infrastructure projects.

He said the National Health Insurance contribution amounted to GH¢2.5 million, but only GH¢2 million went into the coffers of the NHIS, while, he alleged, the remaining GH¢500 million could not be accounted for.

He said the same applied to the Road Fund, where GH¢1.7 billion was supposed to go to the fund but only GH¢1 billion found its way, leaving GH¢700 million.

Bad economic policies

He said due to bad economic policies, businesses had collapsed and a number of traders, especially market women, had lost their money, thereby losing their livelihoods.   

PNC Chairman unhappy

In an interview, the Chairman of the PNC, Mr Bernard Mornah, said both the NPP and the NDC had proved that they did not have better options for Ghanaians.

According to him, there was nothing in the budget to tackle the suffering Ghanaians were currently going through.

He said he was also disappointed that there was nothing in the budget to show how the 2020 general election would be funded.