The Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, says the Government would not need a Supplementary Budget for the 2023 financial year.
He explained that improvements in non-oil tax revenues, coupled with a downward review of oil revenue and expenditure rationalisation measures, would support the government's operations without additional budget financing.
Mr Ofori-Atta was presenting the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review of the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana to Parliament in Accra on Monday.
“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 Value Added Tax (VAT),” he said.
However, he said the Government would have a downward review of the oil-related revenue with corresponding expenditures to align with the underperformance of some of the country's revenue handles.
That was to make up for the shortfall in oil revenue expectations due to changes in global prices, which the Minister said would also impact on the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA).
The developments above, together with a lower domestic interest payment and amortisation, part completion of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), and reduction in foreign-financed capital expenditure had led to a review of the government's Appropriation.
The GH₵227.7 billion Appropriation, which was approved in the 2023 budget in November 2022, had been revised to GHS206bn.
In the absence of the supplementary budget, Mr Ofori-Atta said the Government remained “committed to pursuing a robust growth strategy within the limited fiscal space and our fiscal consolidation programme.”
That would be achieved by attracting domestic and foreign private sector investments and expanding production, through encouraging and stimulating government policies and agencies.
The actions included the development of V20 Climate Prosperity Plan Mutual Prosperity Dialogue, geared towards facilitating the ease of doing business in to crowd-in private domestic and foreign investments.
“The economy is showing signs of recovery. The exchange rate has stabilised, inflation has softened, and interest rates have declined since December 2022.” Mr Ofori-Atta said.
He attributed the recovery to the implementation of measures in the 2023 budget and positive sentiments arising from the progress of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) US$3bn loan support programme.
He expressed appreciation to the Speaker and Members of Parliament, participating bondholders,
retirees, financial institutions and other stakeholders, who the Minister said played critical roles in “Ghana's successful journey towards the IMF-Supported Programme.”
“As a nation, we must and will prevail. Indeed, our only recourse is to be successful at the upcoming First Review of the Programme in September 2023 and all other subsequent reviews
He called on Member of Parliament (MPs) and all Ghanaians to continue to support government's reforms.
