2020 budget: Akufo-Addo government has lost it - Adongo

NDC Member of Parliament for Bogatanga Central, Isaac Adongo has described the full document of the 2020 budget as far from a reflection of the abridged version read in parliament by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta.

Speaking on Good Evening Ghana with Paul Adom Otchere on Thursday night, Mr Adongo described the budget as empty and full of lies.

“This budget is empty, this budget is full of lies. This budget does not reflect the speech that was delivered and that the facts as contained in this document shows this government has lost it.”

Mr Adongo indicated that government’s intention of spending GHC320 million on arrears payment to road contractors, as well as another announcement to spend GHC2.2 billion on road construction, is likely to peg the country’s budget deficit at 7% rather than the 4.7% which was announced by the minister.

According to Mr. Adongo a budget deficit of 7% will make the finance minister a candidate of a prison sentence of not less than five years, as stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2018.

“There is no reason why Ken Ofori Atta will not go to jail if what am seeing here is true. In other words Ken Ofori Atta has already exceeded the 5% deficit, our deficit is in the region of 7% and the numbers he is cooking will come back to hurt him.”

The NDC Member of Parliament who was asked of the status of his party’s presidential candidate said the former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama has been rendered a saint by the current government led by Nana Akufo Addo, who in his assertion has been poor in the management of the economy, as compared to the former president who is seeking a comeback in 2020.