Ghana’s Finance Minister , Ken Ofori-Atta has requested a supplementary budget of Ghc11. 8 billion to support government’s expenditure for the rest of 2020.
Mr. Ofori-Atta laid this request before parliament during his presentation of the Mid-Year Budget Review on Thursday, July 23, 2020.
According to him, government’s projections for the 2020 financial year have been largely disrupted by the economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He explained that the supplementary budget is to aid government in the implementation of various initiatives to strengthen various sectors of the economy following the dire impact of COVID-19 on the economy.
“Whilst this pandemic requires us to exceed the limits imposed by the FRA, Act, 982, we have had to make these major expenditures to protect lives and livelihoods of Ghanaians and sustain businesses. We, therefore, request a supplementary budget of GH¢11,896,477,566.00 to enable us to continue this extraordinary task,” he requested.
The Minister also added that “the overall fiscal deficit will increase from the programmed GHȼ18.9 billion to GHȼ30.2 billion, which will be 7.8 percent of revised GDP.”
