2023 Budget: IMANI Africa Faults Akufo-Addo’s Refusal to Cut Down On His Elephant-Size Government

• President Nana Akufo-Addo has been criticised for failing to include a leaner government in his austere moves in the 2023 budget
• IMANI Africa thinks it is worrying that the president has failed to heed numerous calls to reduce the size of his government machinery
• IMANI Africa's Franklin Cudjoe has proposed that the president can merge the ministries of communication and information as well as defence and interior in the wake of the biting economic crisis

Think tank IMANI Africa has said it is baffling that President Nana Akufo-Addo did not include downsizing his government to the austere measures announced in the 2023 budget.

Finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced a raft of austere measures aimed at cutting down on spending as the economic crisis bites. He announced, for instance, that the government will not recruit new workers from January 2023.

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Also, a 50% reduction in fuel coupons and a ban on the use of V8s except for cross-country travels were announced.

However, founding president of IMANI Africa Franklin Cudjoe has said he expected the finance minister to announce a decision by the president to downsize his oft-criticised huge government as part of the austere measures.

Cudjoe told YEN.com.gh in an exclusive interview that while the attempt to cut back spending on government machinery is good, it is not significant.

"The thing that I find depressing is the issue of the so-called cuts. The cuts are never big enough. And we’ve not been told exactly how much was saved when the first 30% was announced…Those cuts should be deeper. I don’t know what is preventing the president from downsizing his government by merging a few ministries together," he said.

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He has proposed that the ministries of interior and defence as well as the ministries of information and communication should not be merged.

"The budget as presented doesn’t evoke any sense of urgency when it comes to reducing expenditure, because whereas expenditure was around 100 billion cedis last year, the government is proposing to spend over 200 billion cedis in 2023. That is almost a 50% jump. So you ask yourself, is this the austerity measures you expected from a budget in crucial times?" he added.

2023 Budget Does Not Inspire Investor Confidence, Says Franklin Cudjoe

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh has reported in a separate story that IMANI Africa said Ghana's projected growth for next year is not likely to be realised.

The think tank stated that finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta should not have raised taxes in the 2023 budget.

IMANI Africa's Franklin Cudjoe said investors are likely to take their money elsewhere because the 2023 budget fails to inspire confidence.

Source: YEN.com.gh