Ghana’s fiscal position improved – Govt

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said Ghana’s fiscal position has improved significantly compared to 2013 and 2016 hence the ability to be able to deal with the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Between January 2017 and now, however, Ghana has made major strides in correcting the precarious economic conditions that we found ourselves in.

“Our fiscal position has improved, our macro position has even more significantly improved; the combined effects of the improved macro and fiscal positions have enabled us today, to afford the interventions which have been introduced as a result of the COVID-19 programme”, he told journalists at a press briefing on Tuesday, 28 April 2020.

He said with “significantly improved national revenues, we have shot down our deficits and it has yielded a resilient fiscal position against which we have been able to finance the interventions that we talk about in eight weeks or so.”

The interventions, he said, include the US$100 million COVID-19 programme used for the acquisition of PPE, GHS1.2 billion coronavirus alleviation programme including GHS600 million to support SMEs, about GHS200 million to support the provision of free water to consumers for three months, about GHS1 billion to support the provision of free electricity to consumers for three months, amongst others

On the distribution of the US$1 billion COVID-19 Fund obtained from the IMF, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said GHS5 billion will be used to support the 2020 Budget, which include the above programmes.

He said the proceeds will be paid back with revenue obtained from economic activities when the coronavirus crisis is over.