NDC claims Finance Minister made a joke of parliament at budget reading

The opposition, National Democratic Congress (NDC) has opined that the budget reading in Parliament on Thursday, July 23, 2020, was nothing to write home about.

The opposition noted that instead of the Finance Minister informing Members of Parliament (MP) about the current financial situation of the country, the sitting became a campaign platform for the government. And that was a deviation from the parliamentary session yesterday.

Registering their displeasure in an interview on the Happy Morning Show with Happy 98.9 FM’s Samuel Eshun, MP for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini stated, “I was highly disappointed at the budget reading yesterday. This is because the Finance Minister used the time to talk about campaign promises of the party.”

“It is a very serious matter. The budget reading and review stems from our constitution. But he used that time as a campaign platform to make promises.”

He noted that the Minister did not touch on important matters including how the country will fare in 2021 as COVID-19 had adversely affected the country’s finances but rather focused on things that had been addressed in the previous budget submitted to the house.

On his authority, another serious subject on how loans secured to support the country in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic had been used was also not addressed.

“We received loans from the IMF, World Bank, Bank of Ghana and even dipped into the stabilization fund. What prevented the Finance Minister from telling us what the money was used for?

He described the Minister’s refusal to give an account of how monies had been spent “like a child who never gives an account of money spent but keeps asking for more.”

“Why does the year of roads appear again in the budget review.

How do you come and tell us in the budget review what you inherited in 2016?” the MP queried.

According to him, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta did not even attempt to address the house on the country’s existing deficits.

The MP for Tamale Central believes the Minister for Finance only came to throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians and promised that the NDC will use whatever means available to them to reveal the real truth behind the budget review.