News:
February 25, 2016
President John Mahama has reiterated his government’s commitment not to overspend its budget this year.
According to him, he is dedicated to ensuring that his administration exercises strict fiscal discipline even as Ghana goes to the polls in November.
Over the years governments have overspent their budget leaving huge deficits after election years, as they go out of the budget to undertake projects mainly to sway the electorates into voting for them.
But President Mahama says this election year (2016) will be a clear departure from what has unfortunately became the norm for various governments until now.
“The bane of our economic management has been the cyclical huge election year budget deficit. It is an unfavorable narrative for which Ghana has unfortunately become famous. I have assured the nation and our partners that my administration will exercise strict fiscal discipline in this election year, in order that we can also transform this negative narrative of our country”.
He added: “This year Ghana is expected to achieve a budget deficit as low as 5.3 % of GDP under the IMF extended credit facility which provides a tighter fiscal space than originally anticipated. It is within this context that we must practice an even greater degree of fiscal prudence in 2016”.