Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will today, present to Parliament the Mid-Year Review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government and Supplementary Estimates for the 2023 Financial Year.
This comes after multiple changes to the date which was initially scheduled for July 25 and later shifted to July 27, 2023.
“Mr Speaker, the mid-year has been reprogrammed to Monday, July 31, 2023 as against the earlier July 27 communicated and Members should accordingly, take notice,” Majority Chief Whip and MP for Nsawam/Adoagyiri, told the House on Friday when he presented the Business Statement to the House.
The presentation is in accordance with Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act which mandates the minister to undertake the exercise not later than July 31.
Clause 1 of the Section states: “The Minister (of Finance) shall not later than 31st of July each financial year, prepare and submit to Parliament a mid-year fiscal policy review.”
Per the Act, the statement must include a brief overview of recent macroeconomic developments of the country, an update on macroeconomic forecasts, an analysis of total revenue, expenditure and financing performance for the first half of the year and a revised budget outlook for the unexpired second half of the year.
It will be the first updated budget statement to the legislature since Ghana secured a US$3 billion extended credit facility from the International Monetary Fund for the balance of payment support.
The presentation is coming on the back of economic improvement in recent months after a turbulent economic climate in 2022.
According to the Bank of Ghana’s Economic and Financial Data for July 2023, a remarkable improvement in the economic fundamentals of the country had been recorded.
The indicators include a stable cedi against major trading currencies, slow increase in inflation, and declining lending rates.
Ghana also experienced a moderate 4.2 per cent growth in the GDP for the first quarter of 2023.
The debate on the statement is expected to commence on Tuesday and would be concluded on Thursday, August 3, 2023 before the House adjourns sine die.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
