Parliament of Ghana on Tuesday December 6, 2022 have approve the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government for the year ending 2023.
This was after a heated debate between Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, and Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, witnessed by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on the floor of the House, in Accra.
On November 24, the Finance Minister presented the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government to Parliament, on behalf of President Akufo-Addo.
The debate on it began on November 28, with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Majority, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority arguing it out on the benefits to, and ramifications on, the economy.
Touching on the nation’s debt restructuring, Mr Iddrisu said in less than two weeks of presenting the Budget to Parliament, the Finance Minister, on December 5, announced the government’s debt restructuring but noted that the form and structure of the programme was unacceptable to the NDC Minority.
“We simply cannot agree to this as it has dire consequences on the financial sector, on pension funds and on jobs. We are all at risk,” he said.
Concerning the depreciation of the cedi, Mr Iddrisu said its continuous depreciation was worrying, adding; “The cedi has performed so badly that even the NPP’s propaganda can no longer defend it.”
“In this budget, the Minister of Finance is introducing 23 tax measures and a 2.5% VAT rate (increase). We the NDC minority group will fearlessly resist and fight the imposition of these additional taxes,” he said.
Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu countered the argument raised by the Minority Leader, and while he admitted that the country is not in a good shape, he said that revenue that will be raised from the VAT will go a long way to help address the situation.
“My colleague spoke about challenging the 2.5 % VAT rate. But as we all know, the economy is not in a good shape so the 2.5 % raise is primarily for road construction. If you do not want your road to be constructed, tell us,” he said.
The question of the budget and economic policy statement submitted by the Finance Minister was raised by Parliament Speaker Alban Bagbin after this discussion.
According to reports, the Speaker had ask the question twice before concluding that the “ayes” had it.
