The Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central Isaac Adongo has said the 2018 budget is riddled with so many inaccuracies and unrealistic targets that it cannot be shown to the International Monetary Fund – which is in a credit facility arrangement with Ghana.
According to him, the promise by the finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta that the budget will provide 100,000 jobs for unemployed graduates is not supported by figures and actual nominal performance of the state.
Mr. Ofori-Atta in the presentation of the 2018 budget in parliament Wednesday said, among others, that the government intends to solve the graduate unemployment challenge with the bold initiative to recruit the 100,000 graduates under Nation Builders Corps.
Speaking to Morning Starr host Francis Abban on the budget Friday, Adongo said the government is hoodwinking Ghanaians with empty promises.
“There is one thing this government does, they throw in one populist thing to create excitement. We know how to avoid this populism. We won’t fall for it. I can understand that Mr. Ofori-Atta wanted to avoid the misery of what he has done to the economy of Ghana.
“The Minister of Finance should tell us the true state of the Ghanaian economy. In my view, the 2018 budget document is a useless one. There is a possibility that some of the monies needed for our re-profiling have gone into our debt. I can assure you that the Minister of Finance cannot give the 2018 budget to IMF,” he said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament Dr. Assibey Yeboah said the Minority is opposing the projections in the budget because they are dazed by its prospects.
“I think the NDC are in a shock looking at the policies we have but let’s give them some time, they’ll recover from the shock soon”.
Source: Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM
