2017 budget not populist – Mustapha Hamid

The 2017 budget statement is not meant to sway votes for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) but to lead to positive change in the lives of citizens, Information Minister Mustapha Hamid has said.

Following the presentation of the 2017 budget by the Finance Minister recently, a section of the public and some critics have indicated that it is meant to win votes for government in the next elections.

However, Mr Hamid has refuted such suggestions saying the budget only indicated government’s intentions to cut some taxes, roll out the Free SHS policy, and could not have been motivated by populist desires.

Mr Hamid told Moro Awudu on Class FM’s Executive Breakfast Show: “If populism means sticking to manifesto promises, if populism means keeping faith with what you told the Ghanaian people in an election, then so be it, then we are populist which is good, because in that sense you are keeping faith with the people. But if populism is just doing things merely for the sake of winning them with no real impact for the sake of the people, then this is not populist at all.”