On Monday, July 31, 2023, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta presented the mid-year fiscal policy review of the government’s budget statement and economic policy.
Isaac Adongo, the deputy ranking member on the finance committee of parliament, has called the presentation a “funeral dirge.”
He claimed that because the budget was a dirge, the lawmakers who were yelling “Yeah Yeah” were dozing off.
“We all listened to the funeral dirge… At some point, I had to wake up and ask them to wake up from sleep and listen to the man.
“So, when they finally got up and said ‘Yeah Yeah’, they were sleeping. So, I was surprised when they suddenly woke up, they were shouting when they hadn’t heard the man speaking,” Isaac Adongo said.
After experiencing severe economic hardship in 2022, Ken Ofori-Atta, who delivered the budget statement, stated that Ghana is currently making modest progress in reviving its economy.
He emphasized Ghana’s economy’s notable development since the decision to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance.
We have turned the corner, and more importantly, we are determined to stay on that course, he told Parliament.
Ken Ofori-Atta has come under harsh criticism from the parliamentary minority.
The evidence and the statistics in front of us, according to Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson, indicate that he has actually made Ghanaians’ problems worse.
The Minority leader also added that the Finance Minister said he is revising economic growth from 2.8% of GDP to 1.5% GDP. He added that he has doubt the economy will go above 1% GDP in 2023.
Relatively, according to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, 2022 was a challenging year for him and the administration of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
He claimed that the COVID-19 aftermath and the Russia-Ukraine war, which had an impact on the entire world, were to blame for the rising cost of goods and services.
