2022 budget to deal with expenditure and revenue mobilization challenges – Finance Ministry
The Finance Ministry has insisted that the proposed measures outlined in the 2022 budget will help contain rising expenditure and deal with revenue mobilization challenges.
The assertion by the Ministry follows concerns that the delays in approving the controversial E-Levy, could destabilize government economic policy agenda for the coming year.
However, the Minister of State, at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen stated that, a lot went into next year’s budget to deal with all the deficit and revenue concerns, adding that the country is moving from a 12.1% deficit to a 7.4% deficit – a four percentage points reduction.
He also added that, the Ministry is posting a positive primary balance which means that the country is not going to borrow to pay down interest. Although the country is on a declining debt path, the government is still exercising serious fiscal consolidations.
Mr. Boahen also noted that after the consolidations, they came through with not only some shallow measures but very strict ones which looked at the expenditures and also looked at the possibility where the ministry could cut certain expenditures that were not really necessary.
“We are moving from a deficit of 12.1% or so, if you include IPP to 7.4%, that’s more than four percentage points of GDP and at the same time, we are also posting a positive primary balance which means that we are not borrowing to pay down interests and so what we are saying here is that, you are actually on a declining debt path and you’re exercising some serious fiscal consolidations.
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“And we came through not only with some measures but also with a very strict look at our expenditures and making sure that we could really cut off the stuff we didn’t think was really necessary and could afford to cut back on. So it has been a very very delicate balance”, he said.
Parliament adjourns sitting; delays passage of E-Levy
Parliament has postponed sitting to January 18, 2022, without passing the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy of 1.75% which was expected to be considered by the House under a certificate of urgency.
The adjournment of Parliament comes after the House reconvened today, Tuesday, December 21, 2021, following the abrupt suspension of sittings by the Second Deputy Speaker, Andrews Asiamah, after a fight broke out during the voting on the E-levy on Monday night – December 20, 2021.
At the commencement of sitting on Tuesday, December 21, the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, suggested to the First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu, who was presiding to adjourn the House to 18 January since efforts to reach the Speaker by phone has not been answered and to allow cool heads to also prevail before taking a vote on the E-Levy.
According to him, the House wasn’t in a serene environment to conduct business, considering the events of the previous night.
“We adjourned sitting yesterday [Monday] and indicated to ourselves that the house will be reconvening at 9:00 am today, Tuesday, December 21, 2021, but we have been waiting for all this while making the necessary calls but thus far, nothing responsive, and I think where we are if we take an adjournment it will allow us cool our heads before coming back to this house, and then when we come back we continue with business in a much more serene environment. In that regard, Mr. Speaker, I invite you to adjourn the house in the hope that we can come back on January 18,” he said.
