Mixed reactions greet mid-year review of budget
Divergent reactions have greeted the mid-year review and supplementary estimates presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper, last Wednesday.
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These views were expressed when the Daily Graphic went out to solicit people’s views on the mid-year budget review.
The Chief Executive Officer of Imani Ghana, Mr Franklin Cudjoe, told the Daily Graphic that Mr Terkper’s assertion that the economy was not in crisis was a diplomatic statement and not a reality.
Mr Cudjoe held the view that it was normal for Mr Terkper to say Ghanaians must not despair as a result of present challenges but for the minister to say the economy was not in crisis was far from the truth.
“Things are not good. The GDP figures he gave were only nominal and not real,” he said.
Dwindling economy
The cost of living, Mr Cudjoe said, kept rising and there seemed to be no clear plans as to how to salvage the fast-dwindling economy.
“I am not hearing anything about cutting down on waste. There are too many people hanging around the Presidency,” he said, adding that some ministries and agencies had to be re-aligned to cut down on the huge expenditure on fuel usage.
It was high time the country started looking within for solutions by dealing with practical realities, instead of anchoring the state of the economy on figures, he said.
Ghanaians disappointed
A proprietor, Mr Charles Opoku, told the Daily Graphic that the government had disappointed Ghanaians after all the promises it made.
“The mid-year budget is just another means for the government to misapply taxpayers’ money. We are really suffering,” he said.
For Mr Joe Pobee, a public servant, annual or mid-year budgets were losing their essence now because regardless of whatever they said, life kept on being unbearable.
“Budgets are no longer of prime concern to anybody. There are no success stories to tell, no reflection,” he added.
Mrs Abrafi Inkoom, a businesswoman, said Ghana’s current status as a middle-income country might have come with practical challenges that seemed to be overwhelming the government.
She said in times like that, it was important that Ghanaians went on their knees to pray for the country
Reluctance and annoyance
A good number of the people who were approached by the Daily Graphic were reluctant to express their views on the mid-year budget.
One gentleman who seemed irritated by the question posed replied angrily, “Are you not in this country? Don’t you see how difficult things have become? I don’t have time to answer your question. Excuse me.”