Finance Minister presents mid-year review budget tomorrow

Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, is to present the mid-year review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government for the 2017 financial year to Parliament on Monday, July 31, 2017.

Presenting the business statement for the 10th week on Friday, the Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said the Minister of Finance was expected to move the motion for the adoption of the mid-year review of the budget.

He said the House was expected to debate the motion and take it through the other stages of approval in the course of the week.

2017 Budget

The 2017 Budget, which was the first of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government since assuming power on January 7, 2017, was presented to Parliament by Mr Ofori-Atta on March 2, 2017, which he described as the ‘Asempa Budget’.

During the debate, the Majority Members of Parliament (MPs) defended the budget, while the Minority MPs criticised it for ignoring essential sectors.

The Majority described the budget as a goodwill message that would grow the economy, lower the cost of doing business, support the growth of local businesses and create jobs.

The Majority touted the decision to remove and reduce some taxes, saying the move will encourage the growth of local businesses and consequently drive economic growth.

But the Minority described the budget as a deception and devoid of actionable measures and policies to achieve the set targets.

The Minority argued that the removal of import duties will open the floodgates for the importation of more goods that would offer unfair competition to locally manufactured goods and consequently lead to the collapse of business.

Parliament approved the budget statement after six days of fierce debate on it.