Government, for the first quarter of 2021 exceeded its programmed fiscal deficit target of Ghs 10.7 billion – 2.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Per data contained in the Q1 2021 Quarterly Bulletin released by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the recorded fiscal deficit for the first quarter was Ghs 11.4 billion (2.7 percent of GDP) – 0.2 percentage points higher than the programmed fiscal target of 2.5 percent.
Compared to the recorded fiscal deficit for same period last year, the 2.5 percent fiscal deficit for Q1 2021 is 1.2 percentage points lower than the 3.7 percent fiscal deficit (Ghs 14.2 billion) of Q1 2020.
The Central Bank in its Quarterly Bulletin mainly attributed the marginal increase in the country’s fiscal deficit for Q1 2021 to government’s expenses which fell below the programmed total expenditure for the quarter.
“Total receipts (including grants) and total expenditure were all below their programme targets by 18.9 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively,” stated the BoG.
According to the Central Bank, government receipts in the review quarter was Ghs 12,847.9 million (3.0% of GDP).
This was lower than the target of Ghs 15,831.9 million (3.7% of GDP) by 18.9 percent.
On the other hand, government expenditure and net lending for Q1 2021 totalled Ghs 23,450.3 million (5.4% of GDP) compared with a programmed target of Ghs 26,196.2 million (6.0% of GDP).
Compensation of employees, goods and services and interest payments, which were the main expenditure line items, were below their respective targets by 3.0 percent, 30.6 percent and 7.0 percent, respectively.
Capital expenditures, on the other hand, exceeded the target for the period by 5.7 percent.
Compensation of employees, interest payments, and grants to other government units together constituted 76.7 percent of total expenditures during the period under review.
