Cabinet reviews 2014 Budget
The Cabinet yesterday held a meeting to review proposals for the 2014 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
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The review is to enable the Cabinet to approve the proposals before the presentation of the budget to Parliament next Tuesday by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Terkper.
Addressing journalists at the media briefing at the Flagstaff House yesterday, the Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Mahama Ayariga, said the budget would present a true picture of the country's economy.
He said the 2014 budget would be programme-based, which would require spending to be tied to the delivery of specific projects.
"It will be a financial administration model that ensures greater efficiency in the delivery of projects," he said.
He said the negotiated salaries of public and civil servants would be featured in the budget.
Public-Private Partnership
Mr Ayariga noted that because Ghana had attained a lower middle-income status, it was no longer getting grants to finance projects.
Therefore, he said, the government went to the financial market to raise money to finance projects.
The minister said the government was now strengthening its efforts towards executing projects through public-private partnership (PPP).
Background
The 2014 budget comes in the wake of public sector wages taking over 70 per cent of total revenue.
At the end of 2012, the government recorded a deficit of nearly 12 per cent, with a target of reducing the deficit to nine per cent and six per cent over the medium-term.
Economists have cautioned the government to use the 2014 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to tackle the overrun budget deficit that has affected the economy.
They have asked it to look at the wage bill for next year, the management of subsidies and interest payments on government debts and instruments.