Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Mid-year budget review good but …

In accordance with Sec­tion 28 of the Public Fi­nancial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), the Mid- Year Fiscal Policy Review of the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana was presented to Parliament on July 31, 2023 by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.

As expected, the presenta­tion provided an update on the implementation of the 2023 Budget and an account of actual happenings in the first half of this year.

In sum, the minister de­scribed the economic turbu­lence the country had gone through since suffering the pangs of COVID-19 in 2020 worsened further by external shocks, all resulting in what he termed as headwinds.

Though he did not give details of such shocks, they obviously include Rus­sia-Ukraine war and we think he avoided mentioning that war in order not to attract hooting from the Minority and also public comments that that reference is now drab.

However, in all serious­ness, we can say that the budget review is informative enough for self-education and analysis for whatever purpose.

It is instructive to note, for instance, that the minister acknowledged the unprece­dented hardship the country has gone through in the last eight months, including skyrocketing prices of goods and services.

Then he talks about how the government tried to avoid certain difficulties like shortage of food, non-pay­ment of salaries and power outage.

Much as we acknowledge such statements as honest painting of the situation on the ground, we think the situation still bites hard and only individuals as just humans and also as workers, business people, parents and what have you can give assessments of how they feel the pinch.

We remember that when the finance minister pre­sented the 2023 Budget in November last year, he out­lined certain measures the government would pursue to stabilise the economy, including major fiscal and monetary policy measures to respond to the macro-fiscal challenges before going to the IMF.

Today, the minister speaks of ‘turning the corner’, which simply means the government has done well in implementing measures that have begun to show signs of economic recovery.

He explains that the “turning the corner” is un­derpinned by certain invest­ments and sacrifices made since March, 2020 such as investment in agriculture, education, security, health and tourism.

We hope as the minister, on behalf of the govern­ment, has promised, more investments in the critical areas of the economy would be done.

We have always been wor­ried about how the govern­ment can put the economy back on track, stabilise and make it resilient to certain shocks, internal and external.

Thus, we pray that all the measures in view like the growth strategy would be implemented as expected, in which case quick evalua­tion would be done in any eventuality to avoid mishaps along the way.

We hear of the Minority dismissing the economic recovery claims by the gov­ernment.

This is not unexpected in our side of the globe, yet the government must take note of the issues raised and those of others already made or now to be made and effect the necessary amends where possible.

We believe the opposition and others critical of the government cannot always spew partisanship and pro­paganda.

Our concern is that the government would fight corruption and dishonesty in its management of the econ­omy, address the hardship in the country and leave an indelible mark that can be a landmark reference in future.