The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has assured that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government would not seek any additional funds.
He attributed this decision to the substantial progress made in non-oil tax revenue collection during the year.
“For the first six months of the year, we continue making progress to exceed our non-oil revenue targets for the year. We have seen improvements in non-oil tax revenue collection despite some noticeable shortfalls in VAT,” stated Mr Ofori-Atta during his presentation of the Mid-Year budget review in parliament.
However, the Finance Minister acknowledged that oil revenues had fallen short of expectations due to changes in global prices.
As a result, there would be a downward revision of the oil-related revenue and corresponding expenditures to align with the underperformance of some revenue handles, including the Annual Budget Funding Amount.
Mr Ofori-Atta also highlighted the completion of aspects of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme as a factor contributing to the decision not to request additional funds.
He mentioned that due to the reduction in foreign-financed CAPEX (capital expenditure), the Appropriation had been revised from GH¢227.7 billion to GH¢206.0 billion.
“In view of the reasons outlined above, as well as the lower domestic interest payment and amortization following the completion of a part of the DDEP, and the reduction in the foreign-financed CAPEX, the Appropriation has been revised from GHS227.7 billion as presented and approved in November 2022 to GHS206.0 billion,” the Finance Minister explained.
He further noted that this revision aligns with Regulation 24 sub-regulation (3) of the Public Financial Management Act Regulations 2019 (L.I. 2378). As a result, there will be no need for a Supplementary Budget.