The Minority Leader in Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson, has noted that the Finance Minister must not take certain expenditure decisions unilaterally without approval from Parliament.
According to him, despite noting in the 2023 budget that there will be no increase in wages and salaries, the minister has done otherwise.
Ato Forson made the case on the floor of parliament when the minister appeared to present the mid-year budget review statement.
He said: “I am of the view that if the minister of Finance is varying any expenditure line downwards there is the need for parliament to approve it. We know for a fact that the budget was prepared with the note that the government was not going to increase wages and salaries.
“Mr. Speaker, subsequently, government increased salaries and wages. It means that the mid-year review the minister is presenting today will include an increase in the compensation line. He can’t do it unilaterally; parliament will need to give him permission,” he noted.
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta is currently presenting the 2023 mid-year budget review to Parliament on Monday, July 31, 2023.
The presentation is in accordance with the provisions of the Public Financial Management Act 2016 which mandates the Minister of Finance to present the mid-year review of the budget statement on the Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana for the fiscal year.
It aims to provide a platform for government to update the House and citizens of its economic progress as well as outline any necessary adjustments to the budgetary allocations and policies.
SSD/NOQ
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Cassiel Ato Forson is a Minority Leader