Ken Ofori-Atta, the minister of finance, is scheduled to present the government’s 2024 Annual Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament today, November 15.
In order to comply with constitutional requirements, the Finance Minister will act on behalf of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The absence of a statement from the Finance Ministry cast doubt on the budget’s presentation, but a statement released on Tuesday, November 14 reaffirmed and guaranteed it.
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“In accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and section 21 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) the Minister for Finance will, on behalf of the President, lay before Parliament the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government of Ghana for the 2024 Financial Year, on Wednesday, 15th November, 2023,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
Before the presentation, groups such as the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA), the Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG), the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, and a slew of other trading associations urged the government to implement major tax cuts to ease the economic and financial burden on Ghanaians.
In order to help with the repairing of Ghana’s crumbling roads, the Concerned Drivers Association of Ghana also pushed for the budget to include road tolls again.
Additionally, a few parliamentarians have encouraged the government to reduce expenditure rather than increase taxes in order to better reflect Ghanaians’ plight.
“We met the Minister of Finance at the Finance Committee and he indicated that he intends to raise an additional GH¢11 billion which is about 1 percent of our GDP and we told him that we think the people of Ghana have been taxed so much and the tax burden is already high and so it will be inappropriate to come with new taxes and so the Minister should rather come with cost-cutting expenditure measures,” one lawmaker told Citi News’ Parliamentary correspondent, Nii Ayikwei Okine.
Financial analysts have advised the administration to prioritise income creation over spending cuts.
