2019 budget can’t address the hardship in Ghana – NDC MP

Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Agbodza, says government’s 2019 budget presented to Parliament Thursday cannot address the current hardship Ghanaians are going through in the country.

“There is nothing in this budget that addresses the main issues of hardship in the country, “he said.

Presenting the budget themed “a stronger economy for jobs and prosperity”, finance minister, Ken ofori-Atta urged Ghanaians to expect a better and stronger economy for prosperity and employment in the coming year.

But Mr. Agbodza said the claims by the finance minister cannot be the case because the 2019 budget is rather evident that the government is overindulging in borrowing.

“We are now quite clearly aware of what the minority have been saying that this government is binging on borrowing, now they are coming to some reality, isn’t it amazing that the finance minister would admit that the country’s debt has risen to 170 billion? Within 24 months they have accrued almost 50 billion Ghana cedi debt and this is unprecedented” he stressed.

According to the MP there isn’t any evidence to account for the level of borrowing by the government and the budget that was presented in parliament is just a written policy and without estimates.

“What was presented in parliament is just the policy and does not come with estimates, that is the good English part of the budget, and what we are saying is that the budget is as good as an English lesson,” he said.

He said government is deliberately not investing the country’s money but rather for consumption and asked Ghanaians not to believe the claims that the monies being used to sponsor free SHS policy.

“They use the money on consumption and I don’t want anyone to believe that the reason the government is not doing anything is that of free SHS because all the money the government has spent on free SHS so far is just about one billion cedis” he claimed