Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has expressed optimism about the country’s economic recovery after facing recent challenges.
He reported that the Ghanaian economy has shown positive signs over the past six months, and the government will not be seeking a supplementary budget.
During the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review presented in Parliament on July 31, Ken Ofori-Atta stated, “For the first six months of the year, we continue making progress to exceed our non-oil revenue targets for the year. We have seen improvements in non-oil tax revenue collection despite some noticeable shortfalls in VAT.”
However, the Minister also acknowledged that oil revenues have fallen below expectations due to changes in global prices. As a result, the Finance Ministry will conduct a downward review of these targets and corresponding expenditures, particularly affecting the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA).
“However, oil revenues have fallen short of expectations due to changes in global prices.”
“We will, therefore, undertake a downward review of the oil-related revenue as well as the corresponding expenditures to align with the under-performance of some of our revenue handles. Specifically, this will impact the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA),” he added.
Despite the challenges faced, Ken Ofori-Atta urged Ghanaians to support the government’s efforts to restore the country’s economy and improve the living conditions of citizens. The government remains determined to address the economic hardships promptly.
The Finance Minister described 2022 as his toughest year in office, during which he had to make difficult yet necessary decisions to facilitate Ghana’s economic recovery.
One significant decision was seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to implement the Post-COVID-19 Programme of Economic Growth (PC-PEG).
At that time, the country was going through a period of economic uncertainties and despondency.