Ghana

Ghana broke but Presidency spending over 900 percent of 2021 budget - Xavier Sosu

Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 7:04 PM by Nii Ayi Ayitey

- MP, Xavier Sosu says the Presidency is spending more on the budget

- The legislator says the Executive is spending over 900 percent of budget allocation

- Government has placed an embargo on salary increments for public sector workers

The Member of Parliament for the Madina Constituency, Xavier Sosu, has revealed that the Executive branch of government – which constitutes the Presidency – is spending over 900 percent of budgetary allocation from the 2021 budget.

So far, the 2021 budget has been approved by Parliament but some analysis, according to the Legislator, “ as against previous provisions reveal that, over the last 5 years, allocations to the office of government machinery have increased by 937.73 percent whilst that of Parliament and the Judiciary increased by only 48.71 percent and *18.49 percent respectively. This trend is unacceptable and does not show commitment to effective separation of powers and good governance principles”.

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Ghana broke but Presidency spending over 900 percent of 2021 budget - Xavier Sosu (Stock Photo)

In other news

The Technical Advisor to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Nii Noi Ashong, has disclosed that government is in a tight place to increase salaries of public-sector workers in the next three years.

Speaking at the Post-budget seminar organized by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Dr. Nii Noi Ashong remarked that government has little to no cash to spend on compensation.

“I must be honest here. We have eaten to the bone. With Covid-19’s impact on expenditure, we can’t at this time consider salary increments for the next three years,” he stated.

So far, government has spent 17 billion cedis on Covid-19 expenditure. The country’s debt-to-GDP has also shot up to over 70 percent – a development that has got many economists call for more austere spending from government.

Meanwhile, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), has rejected the offer by government. Head of the TUC has explained that government must rather decide cutting down salaries of presidential staffers before considering the Public Sector.