Mid-Year budget lacks concrete plan to tackle Ghana’s challenges, says Ato Forson

By Prince Dankwa

The Minority leader in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has criticised government’s 2024 Mid-Year Budget Review, asserting that it fails to outline a clear strategy for addressing the country’s current economic difficulties. 

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, July 23, Dr. Ato Forson expressed his disappointment with the Finance Minister’s presentation, describing it as “uninspiring” and devoid of a substantive plan to tackle the pressing issues facing Ghanaians. 

“As we just listened to the mid-year budget review from the Minister responsible for finance, you agree with me that typical of this government, this address was uninspiring, fails to offer a roadmap for addressing the country’s challenges,” the Minority Leader stated.

According to Dr. Ato Forson, Ghanaians had expected the government to remove several taxes, including the COVID levy, e-levy, ‘borla’ tax, tax on domestic electricity, and emission levy, in order to provide relief to businesses struggling to stay afloat. However, the Minister’s review did not address these concerns, which the Minority Leader sees as a “missed opportunity.” 

“Ghanaians expected that the government would have removed a number of taxes because businesses are packing out of the country. This is a missed opportunity. They are bereft of ideas, you are on your way to opposition,” Dr. Ato Forson asserted.

While the Finance Minister cited ongoing fiscal consolidation measures and highlighted improvements in key economic indicators such as GDP growth and inflation, the Minority Leader argued that the review lacked concrete plans to address the high cost of living and other pressing issues facing Ghanaians. 

Dr. Ato Forson contended that the government has exhausted its ideas to revive the economy and that Ghanaians were hoping for more decisive action to alleviate the current hardships.

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