Finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to brief parliament about government’s decision to borrow 10 billion cedis from the Bank of Ghana.
The amount is to finance the gap in the 2020 budget which has been thrown out of gear as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking to Kasapa News ahead of the address, Chairman for the finance committee, Dr. Mark Assibey-Yeboah explained that several countries including even developed ones have had to fall on their central banks for respite from the impact of the pandemic.
The minority however disagrees with the Central Bank’s support to the government, despite the threat posed by the pandemic.
Minority Spokesperson on finance, Cassiel Ato Forson who had accused the BoG of engaging in an illegality argued government must rather cut down on needless expenditure and re-prioritize instead of hiding behind the pandemic to compound the public debt.
The former Deputy finance minister indicated government’s insatiable appetite for borrowing under the cloak of Covid-19 was as a result of election 2020.
Central Bank’s support for government’s budget has been halted for almost four years as part of the requirements imposed by IMF after the country went to the Fund for a bailout.
