Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has called on Parliamentarians to rally behind government as it prepares to introduce revenue bills to salvage the economy.
He also urged members of the House to allow peace to reign as government prepares to “introduce revenue bills.”
It would be recalled that proceedings in Ghana’s 8th Parliament have been characterised by fierce disagreements and fisticuffs between MPs from the Majority and Minority sides.
These conflicts have largely contributed to the inability of Parliament to approve the controversial E-levy Bill.
Against this background, the Finance Minister in an interaction with the press on Thursday, urged members of both divides of Parliament to collaborate more in their activities.
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According to him, this will provide an enabling atmosphere for government to push through its plans to address the current fiscal hurdles.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, your Government, the Akufo-Addo administration, is determined to turn things around and has the skills, discipline and compassion to do it. But to do so, we must not allow our fortunes to be misdirected by speculators and naysayers – those who only thrive when we allow avoidable uncertainties to hold sway in the affairs of our nation.
“I pray that peace be within the walls of Parliament and sobriety within its towers as we go back to Parliament to introduce our revenue bills”, Ken Ofori-Atta said at the press briefing at the Finance Ministry.
Ghana’s economy is reeling under severe pressure, due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and other limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has resulted in a consistent increment in fuel prices and a growing depreciation of the Cedi.
While announcing measures by government to mitigate the challenges, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta stated that the measures are designed to put the economy back on track.
The measures he outlined were in two folds, that is measures to cut down on expenditure and policies to rake in more revenue.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, these measures outlined today will significantly improve the macro-fiscal situation towards the restoration of confidence and safeguard the achievement of the 2022 budget deficit target of 7.4% of GDP. These measures have been carefully designed to ensure that growth and spending on social protection are not compromised”, he said.
Having urged Parliament to support the plans by government to mitigate the economic challenges, he also called on all Ghanaians to throw their weight behind government, as it works to resolve the present economic difficulties.
“These are truly challenging times globally. No country has been spared. Government, therefore, calls on all Ghanaians to stand together. Together, we shall surely overcome. We can do it together. This is not the first time an NPP Government, working together with the people of Ghana has succeeded in overcoming an economic challenge of this nature. We have demonstrated time and time again our ability to overcome”, he stressed.