The Executive Director of economic think-tank, Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), Professor Newman Kusi has described the 2016 budget as uninspiring .
According to him, the budget failed to deal with key areas such as the mounting public debt and how to sustain its marginal gains on the economic front.
“I will say that the budget was very uninspirational because there were a lot of things that it was supposed to address but never addressed, and I am personally very worried about it.
“The government has not succeeded in improving the fortunes of the country despite the fact that in the last three years, they have very ambitious targets in their targets. The reality is that the macroeconomic indicators are unstable and on the rise,” the economist told Morning Starr host Nii Arday Clegg Thursday.
In his view, the government’s inability to fix the energy crisis has also contributed immensely to the economic crisis the country is facing.
“The country also continues to face huge energy problems that every now and then, we hear the government shifting the goal posts and claiming they will fix it, the barges are coming in and we are not told exactly what the cause of this energy crisis is,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Finance minister Seth Terkper in his presentation of the budget last week, told parliament that government has made tangible gains in the management of the economy.
“In 2016, we will be seeking another mandate to lead the development process of our beloved country. We will stand proudly before our people with confidence in our choices and results achieved so far, and we will ask once again for their mandate and cooperation as we move forward to complete the job we started together. The Government will require support from this august House and cooperation of the good people of Ghana as we are resolute in our drive towards providing a better Ghana for us all. We believe that this budget provides yet another opportunity for all of us to work hand in hand to achieve the objectives we have set for ourselves,” he noted.
“I wish to emphasise that under the able leadership of President John Dramani Mahama, we have acted decisively to address significant economic challenges and implemented socio-economic programmes with the view to “Changing Lives and Transforming Ghana.” The interventions outlined in this Budget will no doubt contribute significantly to the realisation of our brighter medium term prospects,” Terkper said.
