2016 elections: My gov’t won’t overspend – Mahama

President John Mahama has assured his government will be financially prudent even as Ghana approaches elections in November.

According to him, the practice where the country is boxed down in huge deficits after elections must cease.

Addressing parliament in his last State of the Nation address Wednesday, the President said in spite of the appetite to spend during election years, his administration will restraint itself and leave within the budget.

“Situations where huge deficits are created in our budget after every election must stop. I will exercise strict fiscal discipline in this election year...in order that we can transform this negative narrative,” he stated.

The government of Ghana is in a three-year financial bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Bretton-Wood institution has already disbursed two tranches of the bailout cash to Ghana. Financial watchers have said the country’s economy was thrown out of gear following the reckless expenditure of the government during the 2012 elections.

Ghana’s currency, the Cedi, has over the last one year wobbled against the US dollar and other major international currencies.