GH¢9.5bn deficit: We’re prepared to support Ken Ofori-Atta – Adongo assures

A Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee Isaac Adongo has pledged his support to the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta in finding a redress to Ghana’s fiscal deficit of GH¢9.5 billion caused by the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus.

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta projected a loss of more than GH¢9.5 billion in revenue due to the unexpected negative impact of COVID-19 on economic activities in Ghana and around the globe.

Ken Ofori Atta told Parliament on Monday while delivering a policy statement on the impact of the pandemic on the Ghanaian economy that a decline in import volumes and values, as well as the slowdown in economic activities, will lead to shortfalls in both import duties and other tax revenues.

“A recalibration of the 2020 Fiscal Framework underpinning the approved 2020 Budget to reflect the fiscal impact of the coronavirus, without incorporating measures, shows that the overall fiscal deficit will increase from the programmed GHS18.9 billion (4.7% of GDP) to GHS30.2 billion (7.8% of revised GDP).

Also, the primary balance will correspondingly worsen from a surplus of GHS2.811 billion (0.7% of GDP) to a deficit of GHS5.6 billion (1.4% of GDP),” Mr Ofori Atta told Parliament.

Addressing journalists and officials of the Ghana Health Service in Bolgatanga at the launch of his campaign against the deadly Coronavirus, the Bolgatanga Central Member of Parliament acknowledged the difficulty government will face in resuscitating the economy following the impact of COVID-19 on economic activities coupled with a lockdown of Accra and Kumasi.

He disclosed that the minority in parliament had taken cognisance of the fact that a concerted effort is needed to address the gap created in the 2020 budget by the outbreak of the pandemic.

“My Honorable Finance Minister was in Parliament to deliver a major policy statement and that policy statement was to identify the challenges that the Coronavirus was imposing to the general economy and to identify the gaps that would exist within our fiscal framework and how we have to marshall resources to deal with a gap of GHS9.5 billion resulting essentially from revenue shortfalls that this virus has created on the public purse,” he said.

Mr Adongo further pledged the support of members of the minority in parliament and the opposition National Democratic Congress to the finance minister to find a workable solution to the fiscal deficit.

He stated that “Today I want to assure the finance minister that we are all together in the fight to find a solution. I as a member of parliament and a member of the finance committee together with my colleagues and all the technical brains of finance within the NDC fraternity stand shoulder to shoulder with the finance minister to find an appropriate solution to dealing with this problem.”

While recounting a similar situation experienced under the erstwhile Mahama administration, Isaac Adongo stated that the then minority in parliament supported then finance minister Seth Tekper when he returned to parliament to seek approval to amend the budget which was thrown out of gear following a collapse of prices of commodities at the world market. The situation led to a deficit of GHS 700 million dollars barely three months into the implementation of the budget.

He pledged the minority will reciprocate the support given by the then minority when the National Democratic Congress was in power.

“One good turn deserves another. Fast forward 2020 the NPP is in government and they face a similar is not a daunting challenge. We can only be hypocrites if we don’t support the minister to achieve the same feat that they gave us in 2014,” he added.