Stop the wasteful spending to check inflation - Prof. Atuilik to government

BoG increases policy rate to 19%

Policy rate hike is a move in the right direction, Prof Atuilik

Our fiscal discipline should be tightened, ICAG

President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana, Professor William Atuilik, has said it's about time government tightens its fiscal discipline.

According to him, the country is facing dire economic challenges, therefore, this is not the time for government to engage in wasteful spending.

He stressed that government needs to spend on only budgeted items to avoid lavish spending.

The President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants entreated government to improve on the country's domestic revenue mobilization efforts to rake in more revenue for the country.

Professor Atuilik lauded the Monetary Policy of the Bank of Ghana for increasing the policy rate to 19 percent to withstand inflationary pressures on the economy.

“Inflation is a global issue hence the policy rate hike is a move in the right direction. The world is going through a very terrible time, but within our backyard, we should do the right thing. We should tighten fiscal discipline. This is not the time we should engage in wasteful spending,” he said.

“We only spend on things budgeted for the government. We need our internal controls and internal audit arrangements to be strengthened, to make sure that whatever meagre resources are available are used solely for government business. We should also improve our domestic revenue mobilization efforts, with a particular focus on the informal sector,” he added.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana has for the second consecutive time increased the Policy Rate – the rate at which it lends to commercial banks by 200 basis points to 19%.

This was announced by the Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison, at a press briefing on May 23, 2022.

The increase in the Central Bank’s monetary policy rate means the cost of borrowing is expected to go up at least for the next two and half months of the year.