The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has declared that with the expenditure cuts made by the government this year, the country is on course with national expenditure rationalisation efforts.
Addressing the press on the economy at the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday (28 September 2022), Ofori-Atta said that “current-year expenditure has also largely been contained, owing to the operationalisation of expenditure cuts announced since March 2022”.
“We are on course with expenditure rationalisation efforts, and will continue to enforce strict adherence to these measures across all MDAs [ministries, departments and agencies], while ensuring efficient delivery of public services,” the minister said.
Revenue generation
According to the Finance Minister, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) “has intensified its efforts to shore up domestic revenue mobilisation, particularly in relation to the enforcement of compliance measures”.
“The increased visibility of GRA officials at shopping malls and various commercial establishments and at our borders across the country is in pursuit of meeting our revenue objectives,” Ofori-Atta said.
“Such exercises form part of an ongoing drive to ensure we take significant steps forward in remedying long-standing challenges with domestic revenue mobilisation, indiscipline, corruption and leakages,” he said.
“Heightened tax compliance and increased tax-audit exercises will continue to be complemented by policy initiatives that allow us to tap in to a wider pool of taxpayers in the years ahead,” he added.
Economic growth
According to the Finance Minister, Ghana’s “growth outturn of 3.4% and 4.8% in quarter one (Q1) and quarter two (Q2) of 2022 respectively, coupled with modest improvements in our fiscal position, suggests our economy is gradually on the upswing despite the numerous shocks we have faced over the past two years”.
“These figures demonstrate that in spite of recent challenges, there has been economic growth, modest as the gains so far may be. This progress gives us a solid foundation to confront the challenges ahead,” Ofori-Atta said.
Undoubtedly, global risks remain on the horizon, including a strengthening US dollar and higher interest rates, which affect external borrowing negatively.
These developments are exerting enormous pressure on Ghana’s balance-of-payments position, thus the need for the country to expedite engagement with the International Monetary Fund, Ofori-Atta said.
Wilberforce Asare
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