Terkper paints brighter future for Ghana

Seth Terkper, Finance Minister has maintained that inspite of the turbulent situation that rocked the government, progress has been made in addressing the country’s economic challenges.

The Minister, who is envisaging a brighter future for Ghana, patted the government on the back for remaining focused and taking bold initiatives under difficult circumstances. Addressing Parliament on Monday during the presentation of a supplementary budget statement, Mr. Terkper declared:

“We are poised to enter a brighter medium term era.” BUDGET OVERRUN The minister promised Parliament there would not be a repeat of 2012 where government overspending reached unprecedented 12 percent of GDP. “Speaker, I wish to assure this august House and the general public that we remain committed to our resolve to resist budget overruns, often associated with elections, and managing the public debt towards ensuring debt sustainability.

“We are determined to sustain fiscal discipline while investing prudently in infrastructure and social development.”

He however prayed to the House to approve a supplementary budget of GH¢1,888,203,387 to enable government run it programmes for the rest of 2016. According to him, it has become necessary for the government to turn to parliament because of problems it encountered in terms of revenue generation. “Tax revenues amounted to GH¢10.3 billion and were 6.4 percent below the budget target of GH¢11.0 billion. However, grants have been broadly on target, with a negative deviation of 0.1 percent. The shortfall in tax revenue is mainly due to the decline in commodity prices, notably crude oil prices.”

By Isaac Essel |