Kwaku Kwarteng, the chairman of Parliament's Finance Committee, said the 2022 budget aims to reduce government spending.
Mr. Kwaku Kwarteng stated this in response to assertions made by the Minority in Parliament that the 2022 budget will exacerbate the country's economic difficulties.
Kwaku Kwarteng stated in an interview with Evans Mensah on Top Story on Wednesday that the government has cut spending for 2022 as a result of this budget.
"This budget plainly demonstrates the idea that the government should slash spending. Under this budget, the overall expenditure program has been underspent. These are some of the first observations we should make about goods and services being less than expected.
I see a clear attempt by the administration in this budget to signal to investors in our economy that we will defend the fiscal in the future. "I believe there should be a signal to everyone, including our Minority colleagues, to deal with that topic... we are seeing expense rationalization in the budget," he said.
"I go back to the budget statements for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, and I see the then administration's scream about cash not being available for discretionary expenditure," he continued. We cannot continue to attack the administration for rising debt levels while also rejoicing over what we believe would be politically unpalatable for the government since it is attempting to bridge the gap. "I don't believe we can have it both ways."
However, Cassiel Ato Forson, a ranking member of Parliament's Finance Committee, believes that the administration is exacerbating the country's economic woes.
He expressed concern that the removal of the benchmark value on certain imported products would cause commercial disruptions in the country.
"I want Kweku Kwarteng to know that we in Parliament's Minority are not celebrating. In fact, we are disappointed because we believe the average Ghanaian has been burdened by this budget. We believe that the implementation of this budget will result in suffering and poverty. Indeed, we have stated that not just the implementation of the e-tax, but also the implementation of the benchmark will make life difficult for Ghanaians," he said.
Meanwhile, the government estimates total expenditure (including arrears clearance) for 2022 to be GH137.5 billion, or 27.4 percent of GDP.
The forecast for 2022 is a 23.2 percent increase above the estimated output of GH111.6 billion or 25.3 percent of GDP in 2021.
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