I have cautiously supervised Ghana's fiscal operations – Finance Minister

Ken Ofori Atta, the Minister of Finance, says he has cautiously supervised the country’s fiscal operations and has not been reckless in the management of finances. 

He said this when he appeared before the Ad-hoc Committee of Parliament on Friday, set up by Speaker Alban Bagbin to probe the allegations for the motion of censure raised against him by the Minority. 

He, however, said the government’s “strenuous efforts to protect the public purse is what has helped.” 

Mr. Ofori-Atta insisted that he had, as required of him, always presented government revenue and expenditure propositions to Parliament, which had in turn raised no concerns. 

“On all occasions, I have come to Parliament to present the annual or mid-year budget, I have discussed all propositions of government in revenue and expenditure and financing, and on all these occasions, I have received approval as Parliament subsequently passed appropriation bills on them,” he said. 

“Every key expenditure made has been supported by this house. Indeed, we also saw the dire consequences when the house, for months, refused to pass a major revenue generation item introduced by the Government to support the financial stability of the economy.”  

Mr Ofori-Atta told Parliament’s Ad-hoc Committee that “Parliament’s delay in passing the E-levy has cost the country.” 

The Minority in Parliament are calling for the dismal of the finance minister over the poor handling of the economy. 

The cedi has seen its value drop by over 50 percent compared to the United States dollar in the first ten months of this year. 

The development had since placed the cedi as one of the worst in the world according to ratings by Bloomberg. 

Fiscal recklessness leading to the downward trend of the cedi was one of seven grounds raised by the Minority to demand the dismissal of the finance minister. 

Per the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) on Wednesday, November 9, the country’s inflation rate hit an all-time high of 40.4 percent in October 2022. 

The data said food and non-food inflation also rose to 43.7 percent and 37.8 percent, respectively.