Parliament will todaybegin debate on the government’s 2020 budget statement and economic policy.
In the document which was presented to the house last Wednesday, the government intends to generate some 67.1 billion Ghana cedis in revenue next year.
The Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta’s presentation was met with agitations after roads in the Volta Region were omitted from the government’s critical infrastructure list.
He, however, tabled an amendment before the house last Friday to include roads in the region.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader, OseiKyei Mensah Bonsu, says today’s debate will allow legislators to critically examine the 2020 budget before its passage.
Parliament over the weekend began its post-budget workshop to deliberate on the 2020 budget.
The workshop afforded Members of Parliament the opportunity to critically study the budget as presented to them by the Finance Minister to enable them to sufficiently debate it.
The Finance Minister in delivering the 2020 budget statement stressed a focus on fixing roads across the country in 2020 and beyond.
He also indicated, among others that the government will increase the tax-to-GDP ratio from 13 per cent to 20 per cent in 2020.
This was after the government’s revenue target for July 2019 fell short by 5 billioncedis.
Although the government has missed its revenue targets over the years, it is still hopeful that it can generate 67.1 billioncedis in revenue in 2020.
The Finance Minister described this target as part of “radical policy and institutional reforms” towards raising the tax-to-GDP ratio over the medium term.
The government said there would be a focus on efficiency and base-broadening rather than imposing new taxes on people and businesses.
But, a Research Fellow with the Institute for Fiscal Studies, DrAduOwusuSarkodie, has described as overly ambitious the government’s revenue targets for 2020.
Source:Fiilafmonline/CitiNews
