Budget review: IFS, ICU call for extra measures

AS Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, reviews the performance of the 2017 budget and the economy in the last six months, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) are asking for additional measures to enhance government’s revenue mobilisation efforts.

Describing the country’s economic prospects as promising, the two called for increased efforts at fiscal consolidation to achieve macro-economic stability.

Revenue shortfall

According to the IFS, revenue fell short of the budget estimate by GH?2.3 billion or 17.1% during the period, due largely to the slow growth of the non-oil sector of the economy.

Total government expenditure was also lower than budgeted by GH?3.6 billion or 20.5%. Thus, while revenue fell short of the budget estimate, expenditure was cut more severely than the revenue shortfall, causing the budget to record a deficit of 1.5% of GDP, lower than the budget estimate of 2.2% of GDP.

“Given that the objective of the 2017 Budget to achieve strong revenue mobilisation is not likely to be achieved, at least for now, there is the need for the government to introduce additional measures,” Professor Newman Kwadwo Kusi stated in Accra.

ICU expects government to tackle the net effect of the shock of the revenue loss from the revenue collection agencies.