2019 Budget: More than $1b for propelling industrialisation

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, in presenting the 2019 Budget Statement to Parliament, announced that the Government would spend more than one billion dollars to support the active industrialisation of the economy to engender growth.

He said it would involve the development of agro-processing through the One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) programme by taking advantage of the increased agricultural production engendered by the Planting for Food and Jobs programmes.

He said by the end of this year, a total of 79 factories in nine regions would be at the various stages of construction or operation under the 1D1F programme.

Many of the supported factories, he said, would process agricultural produce into ready-to-consume forms that were previously imported.
He said the 1D1F Scheme would continue to partner with private financial institutions to fund more factories and expand the geographic reach of the Programme.

The presentation of the Budget is in compliance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution, which requires the Government to present the Financial Policy Statement of the country to the Legislative House.

The priority areas of this budget are; Agriculture, Industry, Infrastructure, Entrepreneurial Support, Revenue Mobilization and Protecting the Public Purse and Social Partnership.

The Budget is under the theme “A Stronger Economy for Jobs and Prosperity”, which aims at modernising agriculture and industrialising the Ghanaian Society, protecting the vulnerable and creating jobs and prosperity for the Ghanaian.

Source: GNA