The year 2019 has been good for Ghana – Finance Minister

Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, on Wednesday said the year 2019 has been “a very good year for Ghana,” evidenced by the growth recorded in the various sectors of the economy.

“This is the year that one can confidently say that God’s blessings on the hard work is beginning to manifest putting us on a positive trajectory for sustained lift,” he said.

Mr Ofori-Atta said this when he presented the 2020 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament in line with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 21 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).

The constitutional requirement mandates the Minister, on behalf of the President, to present to Parliament, every fiscal year, the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government, for scrutiny and debate.

Mr Ofori-Atta, however, acknowledged that there were few challenges noting; “Government has quietly but incontestably achieved significant structural changes of the economy.”

“I say so because we have won some painful but necessary battles for God and country. We have stabilised the micro economic turbulence that was all too regular a feature in the management of the national economy.

“We have delivered on our flagship programme. The gains made so far are significant and it is indeed to the glory of God,” he said.

The 2020 Budget is also expected to focus on tax reforms that will enhance private sector growth as well as create the right environment to enable players within the private sector to flourish and create the needed jobs for Ghanaians.

It is expected to highlight measures government would use to raise more revenues to finance infrastructural and developmental projects.

Next year’s budget will be the first of the current government since the country completed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Credit Facility programme, which began in 2015 and the maiden budget of the Government in an election year.

Source: GNA