Ofori-Atta delivers 2019 budget today

Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to be in Parliament today, Thursday, November 15, 2018, to deliver the 2019 budget statement and financial policy of government. The statement will be for a year in which Ghana will not be under an external credit facility (ECF) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Government has already indicated the post-IMF budget will “bring more relief, hope and improvement in the standard of living of our people”. Addressing journalists last week, Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the budget will see an expansion of credit to the benefit of small and medium-scale enterprises. He said despite the conditionalities imposed by the IMF, the Akufo-Addo government managed to make significant gains as regards economic boom in its first two years. The Minority is, however, predicting economic doom, saying the budget will worsen the conditions of Ghanaians. At a pre-budget forum held lastTuesday, Ranking Member of the Finance Committee Cassiel Ato Forson said: “There is no indication in government policy direction. “We therefore cannot agree with the president on the claims of hope on the 2019 budget”. This was in direct reply to President Nana Akufo-Addo, who had told Ghanaians in South Africa that the budget will bring hope to all. To boot, Mr Oppong Nkrumah has replied the Minority. Speaking on TV3‘s New Day and 3FM‘s Sunrise in a simulcast from the forecourt of Parliament on Thursday, the Ofoase-Ayirebi Member of Parliament said the Minority’s analysis should be treated with the contempt it deserves. “This is not the first time the Minority has predicted doom ahead of a budget,” he told host Winston Amoah, citing how the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs played on the mobile phone tax and some others to punch holes in previous budgets. By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|editors.3news.com|Ghana Follow @kwame_amoh