Ghanaian Finance Minister Targets Lower Budget Deficit
Ghanaian Finance Minister Targets Lower Deficit in Budget
Ghana’s finance minister laid out plans to slash the budget deficit, boost economic growth and make the nation’s public finances more sustainable to regain investor confidence.
The government will implement measures to boost revenue and rationalize expenditure that will lead to a reduction in the fiscal shortfall to 7.4% of gross domestic product next year, compared with 12.1% this year, Ken Ofori-Atta told lawmakers Wednesday in Accra, the capital. The 2021 deficit figures include legacy financial- and energy-sector debts, Ofori-Atta said.
Ghana plans to only announce a so-called unified deficit figure -- which includes the legacy costs -- from next year, Charles Adu Boahen, minister of state at the finance ministry, said by phone after the budget. The deficit figure for 2021 excluding those legacy costs remains at 9.4%, unchanged from a previous estimate, he said.
Total revenue and grants is forecast to surge 43% next year to 100.5 billion cedis ($16.4 billion), while expenditure is estimated at 137.5 billion cedis, a 23% increase from this year. Economic growth is forecast at 5.8% in 2022, Ofori-Atta said.
“The signaling is clear,” Ofori-Atta said. “We are going to judiciously work our way out of our debt situation.”
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