Ghana must have reasonable budget deficit – AfDB Chief Economist

The Chief Economist at the African Development Bank (AfDB) has described Ghana’s 12.1% budget deficit in 2012 as excessive.

According to Prof Mthuli Ncube, any budget deficit that is above 7% is excessive for an African country.

Prof Ncube who is also the Vice President of the AfDB advised the Ghana government to have a more reasonable budget deficit.

Speaking to ghanabusinessnews.com April 26, 2013 in Tunis, Prof Ncube said “Any budget deficit above 7% is excessive. So 12% for Ghana that is excessive.”

“I agree Ghana should have a reasonable budget deficit,” Prof Ncube said in relation to the sentiment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Ghana’s deficit reached 12.1% end of 2012 after overshooting the 6.7% target. But in the 2013 Budget Statement, Finance Minister, Seth Terpker set the deficit target for 2013 to 9%.

The IMF on April 12, 2013 predicted that Ghana’s fiscal deficit will hit 10% by the end of 2013 after its Mission assessed the country’s economy.

Prof Ncube was optimistic that Ghana will emerge out of the deficit challenge very soon as the country gets more revenues from natural resources.

By Ekow Quandzie

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