NEWS COMMENTARY ON THE 2019 MID-YEAR BUDGET REVIEW AND MEASURES OUTLINED BY GOVERNMENT.
The 2019 Mid-Year Budget Review was necessary to ensure that things are on track to attain national economic goals. During the presentation, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, mentioned key developments experienced in the country since the beginning of the last budget presentation. Some of these include reform of the banking sector and concerns regarding social infrastructure and housing projects. Others are innovative steps taken on the port expansion program which has begun to yield positive results. Before the review, some Ghanaians had expressed concerns to government on the need to scrap the Luxury Vehicle Tax and to introduce policies that would cushion people in this country.
True to this, government listened to the concerns and scrapped the Luxury Vehicle Tax, a move which has been hailed by many Ghanaians. As was admitted by the Finance Minister, the economy still has serious challenges that ought to be addressed if things are to be turned round for better economic results. Even though power outages known as “Dumsor” now belongs to history, there is the need to continuously ensure that adequate financial resources are generated to support the energy sector. Again, there is serious shortfall in government revenue, making it difficult to cover our national expenditure.
There is also the need to combat Cyber Crime to ensure that everyone is adequately protected from such crimes. In the light of the development challenges facing the nation, huge sums of money will be needed to finance projects and this explains why the Finance Minister has made it clear that tax offenders will not be speared. Furthermore, looking at the money spent by the state on power generation, it has become necessary for government to prudently examine the issue of making some money available to continue to make the sector dependable to facilitate production in all sectors of the economy. In view of the economic difficulties experienced by the country, there is the need to consistently work towards economic growth and thereby eliminate all forms of hardship and poverty.
It has, therefore, become necessary to bite the bullet and raise adequate revenue to cover the numerous forms of expenditure to make things better. In spite of the challenges, there is every indication that confidence in the economy by people inside and outside the country is growing stronger and stronger. This is a very good sign that with the right focus and the appropriate economic direction of growth, the country will see better days ahead. Whenever economic difficulties are experienced, it requires much effort and sacrifice and also pursuance of sound economic measures to bring in the needed results regarding satisfactory economic growth and development.
It is in the light of this that the energy debt recovery levy and the price stabilisation and recovery levy will have to go up by 21 percent. Similarly, the communication service tax also goes up from six to nine percent. Since additional cash will be needed to finance national development projects, the government has requested to spend six-point-37 billion Ghana Cedis as part of its planned expenditure for the year. As expected, the majority and the minority members of parliament will jaw-jaw on the budget but we appeal to all sides to ensure that the national interest becomes paramount in their deliberations since that is what should remain supreme at all times. It is the hope of all citizens that the measures outlined in the budget review will yield the needed results to enhance accelerated development.
BY DR. KOFI AMPONSAH-BEDIAKO, DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS, GHANA STANDARDS AUTHORITY