By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
A Banking Consultant, Dr Richmond Atuahene, has asked the Nana Addo-Bawumia-led government to cut down expenditure on Ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) as well as Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to the barest minimum to augment its fiscal policy.
According to the astute banker, fiscal sustainability isn’t only about taxation or debt management.
Dr Atuahene said he could not phantom why the president is still running a huge government, criticising the current number of ministers and employees within MDAs across the country, suggesting it was excessive.
Speaking at a forum dubbed Investment Dialogue on Citi TV themed “Clarity in the Chaos: What Lies Ahead for the Ghanaian Economy,” Dr Atuahene pointed out that developed nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom operate with fewer than 60 ministers, adding that fiscal sustainability requires such expenditure cuts for the economy to experience growth.
“We need to cut the level of expenditure on these things (size of government). We cannot go with 86 ministers, so many people. Fiscal sustainability isn’t only about the debt management. At times, you need to make expenditure cuts. We need to cut the level of expenditure on these ministries and MDAs.
America doesn’t have 60 ministers. England does not have so many ministers. What are all these people doing? I mean, some of them don’t even do anything, and they have assistants.
“Recently, I saw the people working in the Vice President’s office. They are more than the people working in this place. What sort of economy is this?… We must cut expenditure to the barest minimum.”
