Ghana exceeds 2012 budget deficit target of GDP before year ends

Before the year 2012 ends, Ghana has already exceeded its overall budget deficit target.

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) on November 14, 2012 announced that the execution of the budget for the first three quarters of 2012 has resulted in an overall budget deficit of GH¢5.1 billion.

This, according to the central bank, is 7.3% of GDP as against a “target of GH¢4.3 billion thus 6.2% of GDP”.

“The excess was mainly accounted for by the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) and arrears clearance which amounted to 1.1% of GDP,” the BoG said in its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) press statement.

During the corresponding period in 2011, the overall budget deficit was equivalent to 1.9 percent of GDP, it stated.

The BoG said net domestic financing of the budget amounted to GH¢4.8 billion, compared to GH¢1.3 billion for the same period last year.

The country’s public debt stands at GH¢29.6 billion (44.7% of GDP) as at the end of September 2012 compared with a stock of GH¢23.9 billion (42.6% of GDP) in December 2011, according to the MPC press statement.

By Ekow Quandzie