2019 Made In China Budget Won't Change Anything In Ghana

The Minority in Ghana’s Parliament has tagged the 2019 Budget presented by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, yesterday in the House as a “Made in China Budget.”

Amidst song chants and heckling with shouts like “We told u so,” the Minority held placards displaying how they perceived the 2019 Budget.

Some of the placards read, “Nana wo y3 lie lie,” “Made in China Budget,” “Propaganda budget,” to mention but a few.

According to them, the government has not been truthful to Ghanaians on the realities on the ground, in relation to the economy.

According to them, businesses are collapsing, and the breakdown of the banking front is a major indication of how the economy is faring.

Referring the people of Ghana to the mantras of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regarding borrowings prior to the 2016 elections, the Minority is of the view that the government’s borrowings, especially from China, defeats their earlier stance.

To them, the economy, under the NPP, is running on China loans, especially the proposed Century Bond, hence the 2019 Budget as a result is made in China, since it is widely surviving on Chinese loans.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, on his part, indicated that borrowing is the easiest thing to do, adding that anyone could easily govern if all about governance is borrowing.

He wondered why the government has a four year mandate, but seeks to go in for a bond that would tie the hands of Ghanaians for a whole century.

He said further that most of the things in the budge, as presented, were repeated, citing the various road networks highlighted by the budget as an instance.

Also on Ghana’s involvement with the International Monetary Fund and the proposed exit, the Minority Leader further stressed that the move was for the purpose of fiscal consolidation and credibility.

According to him, former President John Dramani Mahama had given the indication that Ghana would exit the programme in 2019, and predicted that it would be the last time Ghana goes to the IMF, so, to him, the government should not take credit for that.

Meanwhile, Seth Tekper, former Finance Minister in the Mahama administration, has said the budget rather puts more hardships on Ghanaians, citing the many taxes imposed by the government in the budget as a reason, with the tax of income on luxury vehicles and the rest.

He added that the budget failed to reflect the hope the government promised Ghanaians.

To him, they are gratified at the government’s attempt to downplay the importance of infrastructure, adding that the government’s resolve to expand infrastructure had exposed it.