2020 budget statement not solution to all Ghana’s economic challenges – Kusi Boafo

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Sector Reforms, Mr. Thomas Kusi Boafo has stated the 2020 budget statement that was recently read by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta would not be a panacea to all the economic problems the people are facing as some Ghanaians.

“It will not solve Ghana’s problems from independent to date and all the problems accumulated over sixty-three years” the Economist had observed when commenting on the budget statement on Kumasi-based Nhyira FM morning show monitored by MyNewsGh.com.

The former lecturer of the Kumasi Technological University, however, predicted that Ghanaians are likely to have a sigh of relief looking at it from the economic indicators and policies and programs put in place by the Akufo-Addo led government.

“The 2020 budget is a budget I can tell anyone to be glad about it and pray that during it implementation stage, the government will do whatever it has said,” Mr Thomas Kusi Boafo told host, Papa Nyameke in an interview.

Meanwhile, NDC Member of Parliament for Bogatanga Central, Isaac Adongo has described the full document of the 2020 budget as far from a reflection of the abridged version read in parliament by the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta.

According to him, this budget is empty, this budget is full of lies. This budget does not reflect the speech that was delivered and that the facts as contained in this document show this government has lost it.”

Mr Adongo indicated that government’s intention of spending GHC320 million on arrears payment to road contractors, as well as another announcement to spend GHC2.2 billion on road construction, is likely to peg the country’s budget deficit at 7% rather than the 4.7% which was announced by the minister.

According to Mr Adongo a budget deficit of 7% will make the finance minister a candidate of a prison sentence of not less than five years, as stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2018.

“There is no reason why Ken Ofori Atta will not go to jail if what am seeing here is true. In other words, Ken Ofori Atta has already exceeded the 5% deficit, our deficit is in the region of 7% and the numbers he is cooking will come back to hurt him.”

The NDC Member of Parliament who was asked of the status of his party’s presidential candidate said the former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama has been rendered a saint by the current government led by Nana Akufo Addo, who in his assertion has been poor in the management of the economy, as compared to the former president who is seeking a comeback in 2020.