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No overspending in 2024 elections – Gov’t assures
The government has assured that prudent measures have been put in place to ensure fiscal discipline in the year 2024.
It has assured that it will refrain from overspending in the next year’s election.
The Minority in Parliament predicted that the government was likely to spend beyond its budget in 2024 in an attempt to fulfil unplanned campaign promises due to the elections.
However, in her debate on the budget presentation, Deputy Finance Minister Abena Osei Asare said the government would not initiate new commercially loan-funded projects in 2024 as part of its commitment to live within its means.
“In the past, governments have used election year as auctioning periods, engaging in all kinds of projects to win votes. But this government is committing itself to strong fiscal consolidation and efficient management of existing commitments, in order not to derail the hard-won stability that we are witnessing.”
“Government is not initiating new commercial loan funded projects. Government has also put in an amount of money in the budget to clear their arrears so that we can complete existing projects,” the Deputy Finance Minister assured.
The Minority in Parliament, however, says records available suggest that the government had a budget deficit of 17 percent in 2020 due to the elections.
The Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu, John Jinapor, said, “You said that you have a track record in election year expenditure. For the records, in 2016, go and read the updated data; the deficit was about 6 percent.
Mr. Speaker, I refer to the IMF-Ghana decision May 2023 documents; I refer to page 36, table 2 (A). In 2020, under your regime, election year, your deficit was a whopping 17 percent. It has never happened; no country has that deficit of 17 percent.”
Source: Citinewsroom.com
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GEXIM deepens relations with US EXIM Bank
A management team of the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) led by the Acting Chief Executive, Sylvester Mensah met with the leadership of the Export–Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) on Wednesday April 23, 2025 in Washington DC, United States of America.
The Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM, Mr. James C. Cruse and Vice President, International Relations, Ms. Isabel Galdiz received the GEXIM delegation, which included Deputy CEO for Banking, Mr. Moses Klu Mensah and Head of International Cooperation, Mr. Jonathan Christopher Koney at the headquarters of US EXIM.
The meeting offered the GEXIM team the opportunity to share the strategic direction of the Bank in line with the resetting agenda of the President of the Republic, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama for the repositioning of the Ghanaian economy into an export-led one by providing the requisite investment to Ghanaian businesses.
Mr. James C. Cruse expressed US EXIM’s eagerness to deepen its existing relations with GEXIM and proposed the signing of a new Cooperative Framework Agreement following the expiration of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019 to utilize US EXIM’s medium term loan guarantees to procure machinery by GEXIM for qualified Ghanaian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Mr.Sylvester Mensah thanked the Acting President and Chairman of US EXIM for hosting the GEXIM delegation and reaffirmed the Ghanaian government’s commitment to strengthening trade and investment between Ghana and its global partners for economic transformation of Ghana with GEXIM playing a pivotal role.
The two teams will be meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 US EXIM Annual Conference on 29th and April 30, 2025 to explore possible areas of collaboration and matching Ghanaian businesses to American companies. The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts.
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Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation –Pres.Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has expressed concern over the misuse of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) for personal financial gain by individuals in leadership positions.
Speaking during a meeting with Chief Executives of specified entities under the State Interest and Governance Authority (SIGA) on Thursday, March 13, the President directly attributed the dire state of SOEs to their leadership, accusing chief executives, management teams, and governing boards of prioritising personal enrichment over organisational efficiency.
He pointed to bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures as factors draining public funds while SOEs continue to rely on government bailouts.
“Many SOEs have been used as mere instruments for personal wealth accumulation by appointees. The chief executives, management, and boards of these enterprises are responsible for this situation. Some SOEs have become perennial loss-makers, draining public funds with bloated budgets, unjustified allowances, and unnecessary expenditures while relying on government bailouts as if entitled to them. Many of these entities are at their lowest point in the entire history of the Fourth Republic,” he said.
President Mahama further noted that many SOEs have been plagued by inefficiencies, corruption, and mismanagement, leading to consistent financial losses. He cited the 2023 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), which highlighted systemic inefficiencies and wasteful expenditures within these entities.
He therefore reaffirmed his commitment to reforming under-performing SOEs and ensuring they serve national interests.
He warned that loss-making SOEs will no longer be tolerated and will either be merged, privatised, or closed.
“I will assess you based on your performance. If you do not align with the pace of the reset agenda, you may be asked to step aside. If that adds to the horror movie, so be it,” he added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
