Finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is scheduled to present the 2019 Budget to parliament tomorrow, Thursday, 14 November 2018.
Already, President Akufo-Addo has given indications that the 2019 budget will be full of hope.
His government is optimistic; that the budget would also mark the beginning of Ghana’s exit from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, under which Ghana sought almost 918 million dollars over three years with conditions.
The IMF conditions, among other things, required Ghana to improve domestic resources, control expenditure and reduce the deficit, which also placed a ban on new employment within the public sector.
The 2019 Budget, the third of the Akufo-Addo Administration, would be the first that is not under the supervision of the IMF.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah explaining this said; “The Minister of Finance will demonstrate to Ghanaians what, as we exit the IMF programme, the Akufo-Addo Administration intends to do to maintain the Fiscal Discipline, which has been restored; increase liquidity in the Ghanaian economy; and sustain the heightened growth.’’
He said; the Finance Minister would also speak on how the Government intended to invest in massive infrastructure without compromising on debt sustainability as well as expand credit to the benefit of small and medium scale enterprises.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament is insisting that the yet-to-be presented 2019 budget statement and economic policy will be full of hopelessness.
According to the Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson the various budgets presented by the Akufo-Addo government since it assumed office have brought nothing good but only hardships to Ghanaians and the 2019 budget will be no different, but only hell for many Ghanaians.
