2024 Mid-Year Budget: ‘We have reversed the negative trends, all indicators are looking better’ – Amin Adam

Ghana’s economy is rebounding stronger than anticipated, Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has asserted.

He says the recovery is due to the policies the government has implemented after the Covid-19 pandemic which has reversed the negative projections into a path of progress.

Delivering the 2024 Mid-Year Budget statement in Parliament Tuesday, July 23, 2024, the Member of Parliament for Karaga assured the House of the government’s commitment to ensuring the indicators stay positive.

“Mr. Speaker, it is evident that we are on the right trajectory. The economy is
rebounding stronger than anticipated. The choices we have made and the policies we are implementing are yielding results.

“We have reversed the negative trends, all the indicators are looking better. I want to assure you that we will stay on this path and continue to make the right choices. Our economic recovery is fast and strong,” he stated.

He listed what the government has been able to achieve in the last six months that have culminated into the successes

“Mr. Speaker, over the last six months, we have sought to bring some urgency and speed to the implementation of key government programmes and also swiftly provided the necessary support for growth-enhancing initiatives. I am again happy to inform this august House that with the support of His Excellency the President, Cabinet and other Stakeholders,:
* We have successfully concluded the second review of our Extended Credit
Facility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which led to the
disbursement of the 3rd tranche of 360 million US Dollars, bringing total
disbursement to about US$1.6 billion;
* We have completed the Debt Restructuring programme with the Official
Creditor Committee (OCC), covering US$5.1 billion dollars resulting in
approximately 2.8 billion US Dollars of debt relief. This means that we will
not service our debt to our official creditors from 2023 to 2026;
* We have concluded negotiations with our Eurobond holders, covering 13.1
billion US Dollars, which will lead to a cancellation of 4.7 billion US Dollars
of our debt and provide debt service relief of 4.4 billion US Dollars between
2023 and 2026.
* We have concluded our negotiations with five (5) of the seven (7) Independent Power Producers, which will lead to a saving of some of US$6.6 US Billion
over the lifetime of the Purchasing Power Agreements (PPAs);
* We have reined in expenditures to ensure we are within 2024 Budget
Appropriation and exceeded the midyear revenue target by 0.2 percent by
end-June, 2024. In effect, Mr. Speaker, we are living within our means. Indeed, consistent with our programme with the IMF, we are on course to achieving a primary surplus of 0.5 percent of GDP by end of the year.
* We have cleared all outstanding Bank Transfer Advice (BTAs) up to 2022, and working hard to pay BTAs from 2023;
* We have embarked on major reforms of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs),
especially those in the Energy and Cocoa sectors, to be fiscally prudent and
reduce their risk on the budget.
* We have launched the SME GO programme to provide financial and technical support to SMEs.
* We have disbursed 5.4 billion Ghana Cedis to support LEAP, School Feeding
programme, Capitation Grant and NHIS since January, 2024 to reduce the
burden on the vulnerable in our country.

* We have spent about 1.5 billion Ghana Cedis to support 1,488,575 students
under the Free SHS programme between January and June this year;

* We have paid about 12 billion Ghana Cedis to bondholders under our
Domestic Debt Exchange programme, since February, to demonstrate our
commitment to the programme.

Source:onuaonline.com