Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson criticized the government for missing the chance to eliminate taxes that Ghanaians had hoped would be abolished. He noted that citizens expected the removal of taxes such as the E-levy, Emission Levy, and Covid Levy.
Speaking in Parliament after the mid-year budget statement by Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam on Tuesday, July 23, Dr. Forson accused the Akufo-Addo administration of lacking effective strategies for managing the economy.
According to Dr. Forson, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration is heading towards opposition due to its lack of innovative ideas.
“Ghanaians anticipated the removal of several taxes because businesses are leaving the country. These include the Covid Levy, E-levy, ‘borla’ tax, tax on domestic electricity, and Emission Levy. This is a missed opportunity. They are out of ideas, and you are on your way to opposition,” he said.
During the presentation, Finance Minister Dr. Amin Adam reported that Ghana’s provisional total debt stock amounted to GH¢742 billion, or US$50.9 billion, as of June 2024. This represents 70.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The debt stock includes GH¢452.0 billion in external debt and GH¢290.0 billion in domestic debt, making up 60.9 percent and 39.1 percent of the total debt stock, respectively. As a percentage of GDP, external and domestic debt accounted for 43.0 percent and 27.6 percent, respectively. The increase of 22 percent was attributed to the depreciation of the cedi and ongoing disbursements from creditors.
Dr. Amin Adam assured Ghanaians that the government is adhering to its budget. He reported that expenditures have been controlled to align with the 2024 Budget Appropriation, and the midyear revenue target had been exceeded by 0.2 percent by the end of June 2024.
“Mr. Speaker, we are living within our means. Indeed, in line with our program with the IMF, we are on track to achieve a primary surplus of 0.5 percent of GDP by the end of the year,” he said.
He also highlighted the successful completion of the second review of the Extended Credit Facility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which resulted in the disbursement of the third tranche of US$360 million, bringing the total to about US$1.6 billion. Additionally, he noted the completion of the Debt Restructuring Program with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), covering US$5.1 billion and resulting in approximately US$2.8 billion in debt relief, meaning no debt service to official creditors from 2023 to 2026.
Negotiations with Eurobond holders were also concluded, covering US$13.1 billion, which will lead to a cancellation of US$4.7 billion in debt and provide US$4.4 billion in debt service relief between 2023 and 2026.
Furthermore, agreements were reached with five of the seven Independent Power Producers, which will result in savings of approximately US$6.6 billion over the lifetime of the Purchasing Power Agreements (PPAs). All outstanding Bank Transfer Advice (BTAs) up to 2022 have been cleared, with efforts ongoing to pay BTAs from 2023.
The Finance Minister also mentioned major reforms of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), particularly in the Energy and Cocoa sectors, to ensure fiscal prudence and reduce their impact on the budget.