The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to have an intensive engagement with Members of Parliament in the coming days, to afford them the opportunity to make inputs into the mid-year budget review, which is slated for July 31.
The Finance Minister is expected to present the mid-year budget review to Parliament on Monday, July 31, 2023.
In an interview with Citi News, Members of Parliament shared their expectations for the mid-year budget review.
They said that they hope that the government will reduce taxes, aggregate the various taxes, and provide more funding for the educational sector and the school feeding programme.
They also expressed concern about the high unemployment rate among young people and the shortage of fertilizer in the country.
The Member of Parliament for Anlo, Richard Kwami Sefe, said that the shortage of fertilizer is negatively impacting farming activities in his constituency.
He said that farmers are being forced to pay high prices for fertilizer, which is making it difficult for them to make a profit. He appealed to the government to intervene in the situation.
“My farmers as we talk now, most of them are just willing and ready to work to even do more what they are doing. But the fertilizer, insecticides and other boosters, you will have some around but the cost, last two years for 50kg fertilizer NPK was around GH¢98 [2021]. Last year [2022] it increased to GH¢210, this year we are going as far as GH¢450, GH¢460,” MP for Anlo lamented.
The Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Paul Twum Barimah, also expressed hope that the mid-year budget review will not come with any new taxes.
He said that the economy is already under strain and that the government should focus on reducing taxes rather than increasing them.
“The whole country is in a spectre mood, I strongly believe this mid-year budget review will not come with any tax. My expectation is that the minister of finance should consider the current situation of Ghanaians and see how we can manage the economy,” Member of Parliament for Dormaa East envisaged.
The mid-year budget review aims at highlighting the government’s fiscal plans for the remainder of the year and also outlined policies in ensuring economic growth and sustainability.