GH¢129 billion Appropriation Bill approved by Parliament

Parliament has passed the 2021 Appropriation Bill which involves a total allocation of GH¢129 billion.

The passage means government will be able to spend the sum to finance its operations for the 2021 financial year spanning from January 1 to December 31, 2021.

The approval by the House authorizes the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to draw funds from Consolidated Fund to finance government’s operations.

According to proceedings contained in the Standing Orders of the House on March 30 2021, a sum amount of GH¢30.3 billion will be used to service the compensation of public sector employees while another GH¢25.6 billion will go towards payment of wages and salaries.

Among these, government has further allocated GH¢4.5 billion for COVID-19 related expenditures.

Also, a sum of GH¢200 million has also been allocated to the COVID-19 Alleviation Programme which would primarily go towards government’s electricity and water rebates.

The House has also approved a sum of GH¢929 million which is to be set aside to procure COVID-19 vaccines. Another allocation of GH¢597 million was approved for the National COVID-19 Response.

Parliament also approved an amount of GH¢1.4 billion which would go towards health infrastructure investment and expenditure for the period.

The passage of the Act is in accordance with article 106 (13) of the 1992 Constitution and order 119 of the Standing Orders of the House.