Minister for Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has stated that the policies implemented by the Akufo-Addo led government has yielded positive results.
That, he said has reversed the negative trends in the economy.
Presenting the 2024 mid-year budget in Parliament on Tuesday, the finance minister added that the economy was recovering and that the recovery is fast and strong,
“It is evident that we are on the right trajectory. The economy is rebounding stronger than anticipated.
“The choices we have made and the policies we are implementing are yielding results. We have reversed the negative trends, all the indicators are looking better. I want to assure you that we will stay on this path and continue to make the right choices. Our economic recovery is fast and strong.”
He went on to say that throughout the previous six months, the administration has worked to expedite and accelerate the implementation of important government programs and has also given initiatives aimed at promoting growth the assistance they need in a timely manner.
“I am again happy to inform this august House that with the support of His Excellency the President, Cabinet and other Stakeholders,: We have successfully concluded the second review of our Extended Credit Facility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which led to the disbursement of the 3rd tranche of 360 million US Dollars, bringing total disbursement to about US$1.6 billion;”
“We have completed the Debt Restructuring programme with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), covering US$5.1 billion dollars resulting in approximately 2.8 billion US Dollars of debt relief. This means that we will not service our debt to our official creditors from 2023 to 2026; We have concluded negotiations with our Eurobond holders, covering 13.1 billion US Dollars, which will lead to a cancellation of 4.7 billion US Dollars of our debt and provide debt service relief of 4.4 billion US Dollars between 2023 and 2026.”
“We have concluded our negotiations with five (5) of the seven (7) Independent Power Producers, which will lead to a saving of some of US$6.6 US Billion over the lifetime of the Purchasing Power Agreements (PPAs); We have reined in expenditures to ensure we are within 2024 Budget Appropriation and exceeded the midyear revenue target by 0.2 percent by end-June, 2024.
“In effect, Mr. Speaker, we are living within our means. Indeed, consistent with our programme with the IMF, we are on course to achieving a primary surplus of 0.5 percent of GDP by end of the year. We have cleared all outstanding Bank Transfer Advice (BTAs) up to 2022, and working hard to pay BTAs from 2023,” finance minister added.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu
