Parliament approves 2023 budget
Members of Parliament have given the official nod to the 2023 budget that seeks to raise a total of GH¢143,956 million through taxes and grants for spending by the government without controversy.
The House passed the budget into law by a voice vote in a plenary meeting yesterday, endorsing spending of GH¢205,432 million next year to stabilise the economy that is facing challenges.
The projected expenditure represents 25.6% of gross domestic product (GDP), as against 22.3% of the 2022 end-year projection.
The government has targeted to achieve 2.8% overall real GDP growth for 2023, with the expectation that inflation will decline from 40.4% to 18.9% by the end of the year.
Before the approval, Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu had accused the government of running the economy down through mismanagement, saying, “To say the economy is in a crisis is an understatement,” and called on President Akufo-Addo to take responsibility.
According to him, the challenges with the economy are self-inflicted, and therefore, the NDC Minority MPs would fiercely fight against the approval of the 2.5% increase of the VAT that is contained in the budget.
Mr. Iddrisu said this would bring more hardship on Ghanaians, claiming that the current difficulties with the economy underscored that the NDC were better managers of the economy.
Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, in a response, berated his colleague, intimating that the track record of the NDC in government is appalling.
On the VAT increase, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu explained that the 2.5% was meant to tackle road construction in the midst of the present crisis.
The Majority Leader also hit back at criticism and name-calling of the Vice President by the NDC MPs, indicating, “Interestingly, these days when the Minority group discuss the current economic challenges, they are always quick to tag along the Vice President as the Chairman of the Economic Management Team of Government.
According to him, even in the cabinet setup, where the committee system works, the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is not the Chairman of the Economic Committee.
