Minister of Finance presents 2016 budget to Parliament tomorrow
The Minister of Finance, Mr. Seth Terkper will Friday present the 2016 Budget and Financial Statement of the government to Parliament.
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Sources close to the Ministry of Finance told the Daily Graphic that the financial statement of the government for next year would be an upbeat budget, particularly for the energy sector, considering that the government had secured the World Bank’s Partial Risk Guarantee (PRG) to support investment in the Sankofa Gas fields.
According to the sources, it was understood that private investors were in the market to raise the necessary funds for the project.
“Moreover, the First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama just commissioned the FPSO Professor Mills for the start of oil and gas production in the TEN fields next year.
“These come on the heels of the commissioning of the Atuabo (Jubilee) Gas Processing plant and progress with respect to the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Compact Two,” the sources said.
Another reason, they said for the upbeat was the successful second review of the IMF programme for Ghana, which ended last week.
They also said that the upbeat was about the positive market sentiments that enabled the country to issue its first 15-year sovereign bond.
Asked about job creation and the vexed question of youth unemployment, the sources at the Ministry of Finance said, “We expect the Minister of Finance to focus on initiatives for employment generation.”
