The Majority and Minority Caucus of Ghana’s eight parliament are expected to today November 30, 2021 convene before the House to approve the 2022 budget and economic policy of government.
This comes after the budget was on Friday, November 26, rejected by Parliament following a voice vote which saw the Minority Caucus gain an advantage following a walkout staged by the Majority Caucus.
For the first time in the history of Ghana’s fourth republic, the government’s budget and economic plan for 2022 was rejected by Parliament after a number of concerns were raised over taxes imposed and other policies contained in the budget.
Ahead of the showdown in parliament, Some economists have already warned that any further uncertainty or delay surrounding the passage of the 2022 budget will adversely affect government business and the entire governance structure.
Head of the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research, Professor Peter Quartey in an interaction with journalists on November 29 said, “Investors do not like noise, Finance hates noise. Any little noise you make, and the investor will pull out because you do not want to lose so much capital. Nobody likes uncertainty. Any uncertainty can affect government business” he explained.
“With the wages and salaries, if we are not careful, we will not be able to pay salaries, and you can imagine what happens when the government cannot pay salaries because of the impasse,” he added.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta when delivering the 2022 budget statement before Parliament announced a 1.75 percent levy on e-transactions covering mobile money, bank transfers and other payments.
The e-levy has however been widely criticised with lawmakers calling for a review of the tax imposed in the 2022 budget.
