President Akufo-Addo’s assurance that the government is on course in its fiscal consolidation agenda and the resumption of Parliament today to continue with the business of the House after a break for the Christmas and New Year festivities are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said the government is on course in its fiscal consolidation agenda.
He said the pursuit of strong economic growth and enhanced domestic revenue mobilisation would help the economy to rebound faster from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The combination of strong growth and domestic revenue mobilisation will enable us to meet our fiscal deficit target for 2022, and reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio, thereby providing fiscal space to continue to implement programmes such as the Free SHS, One, District-One Factory and the Planting for Food and Jobs, initiatives among other infrastructure development to create more jobs for our youth,” the President said.
President Akufo-Addo was speaking at the investiture of a new Vice-Chancellor for the S D Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies in Wa, Upper West Region, last Thursday.
He said data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) put the average growth rate of the economy in the first three quarters of 2021 at 5.2 per cent, placing the country on course to exceed its provisional growth outturn of 4.4 per cent for 2021.
“Our growth performance compares favourably with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) growth estimate of 3.7 per cent for sub-Saharan Africa, and 3.6 per cent for ECOWAS countries.
“The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) exceeded its 2021 tax revenue target and we are confident we will achieve if not surpass the GH¢80 billion target for this year,” he said.
The newspaper says that discussants at an agro-pastorism conference have urged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to implement the conventions of the regional body, especially the one on the free movement of animals within the sub-region.
They said when effectively implemented, that convention would help curb the persistent conflicts between farmers and herders and also boost trade within West Africa.
The participants, who were speaking at the conference in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, contended that although ECOWAS had initiated some conventions over the years, they were not being implemented and domesticated by member states.
The situation, they said, had resulted in the prevailing difficulty in regulating the activities of pastoralists and nomadic farmers when herdsmen and their flock moved from one place to another in search of food and water.
The two-day conference is being participated by stakeholders in the agro-pastoralism sector from cross-border countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Togo who are dialoguing on coordinated resource management.
The participants also showcased the work of the existing inter-municipal authority and the possibilities for cross-border consultation on critical issues key to the smooth functioning of the sector.
The conference formed part of a project to support livestock mobility for better access to resources and markets in West Africa (PAMOBARMA) and the reinforce social cohesion in cross-border territories of Ghana and Burkina Faso (SAPSOC) programme.
The PAMOBARMA is being co-financed by the European Union and the French Development Agency, while the SAPSOC is being financed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office of the United Kingdom.
Both projects are being implemented by a host of governmental and non-governmental organisations within the West African sub-region.
The Graphic also reports that the Parliament reconvenes today to continue with the business of the House after a break for the Christmas and New Year festivities.
Top on the agenda of the House is the passage of the Electronic Levy (E-Levy), which was deferred before the House adjourned sine die on December 21, last year.
The adjournment followed a heated debate on whether or not the E-Levy Bill should be considered under a certificate of urgency, which ended abruptly with the First Deputy Speaker, Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, in the chair.
A day earlier, there had been an abrupt suspension of sitting by the Second Deputy Speaker, Mr Andrews Asiamah, after a fight had broken out during the voting on the E-Levy.
During the break, the Ministry of Finance said it carried out consultations on the E-Levy.
The mass sensitisation is currently underway.
The Ghanaian Times says that the country will go to the international capital markets to raise financial resources to shore up government revenue and finance development projects in the country when the time is ripe, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has said.
“The spread of Ghana’s bonds have widened on the international capital market to about 500 basis due to the country’s growing public debt and this is not the good time to go the international market to raise capital,” he said last week when he briefed the press about the developments in the economy.
The Minister was responding to a question why the government was not using the international capital market to raise more capital to shore up government revenue.
He said government would not issue Euro bonds this year and would look within the local bond market as well as rely on alternative instruments such as term loans to raise additional revenue to meet government’s local and international financial obligations.
That, Mr Ofori-Atta said was as a result of the increase in the spread of Ghana’s bonds on the international market due to the country’s growing public debt.
“We must all take blame for the country’s growing public debt,” the Finance Minister said.
Ghana’s current debt to Gross Domestic Ratio as at the end of November 2021 stood at 78.4 per cent which is above the international threshold of 60 per cent.
But Mr Ofori-Atta explained that the current debt to GDP ratio indicated a reduction in the rate of debt accumulation (that is declined by a half to 18 per cent as of November 2021 from 34 per cent in 2020).
“This attests to an improvement in our debt and liability management, contrary to” what had been reported in the media.
The Finance Minister said government would pursue prudent expenditure management and spend within its budget.
GIK/APA