2016 budget was an NDC “manifesto” – Casely-Hayford

A Financial analyst, Sydney Casely-Hayford, has described Ghana’s 2016 budget as a manifesto of the National Democratic Congress.

According to him, the document presented by the Finance Minister Seth Terkper to parliament was more of a State of a Nation address and did not constitute a budget statement.

“What the Finance Minister presented should not be classified as a budget, the components in what he read and what he said are more of a state of a nation address and a manifesto and not a budget,” Casely-Hayford told Morning Starr host Nii Arday Clegg Monday.

Terkper last Friday presented to Parliament the 2016 budget. He among other things assured that government will resist the temptation to overspend in election year, 2016.

He also said per measures put in place by government, he was hopeful that the economy will also grow at a rate of 4.1 percent by December 2015, compared to an initial projection of 3.5 percent.

“There are clear signs that our consolidation efforts are yielding positive results making the economy more efficient. Accordingly, the Ghana Statistical Service estimates that GDP will grow at 4.1% at the end of 2015 compared to the 3.5% initially projected. The World Bank, the IMF and others estimate future growth above 7%”.

The founding member of pressure group Occupy Ghana added “What constitutes a budget, first of all initially is a comparison of what you said you were going to do last year and what you achieved this year and that should be in detail…that was never done and has never been done in this country in a long time.

“What do I make of the budget, I have made my opinion out there in the open, I say it is an ananse story that is being told us…I didn’t see too many issues out there…so I don’t have any faith in what has been said at all.”