Deputy Finance Minister, Thomas Ampeam Nyanko, has disclosed that the full implementation of the condidtion of service demanded by the striking Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association would need in excess of GHS2 billion to the national compensation budget.
He explained that the figure represents a major challenge for a government that is already struggling with debt sustainability requirements.
Speaking at a press briefing at the presidency, the Asougyaman legislator said this could also potentially derail Ghana’s economic recovery efforts.
“From the Ministry of Finance, we want to show our commitment to help and resolve this important issue because our nurses are very important in healthcare delivery and we appreciate what they do, but the reality is we have over 12,000 nurses and the implementations they are demanding will have serious consequences for the budget. In fact, if we fully implement it, we are going to add in excess of 2 billion cedis to the compensation budget.” He stated.
According to him, the government have committed that in their resolve to reset the economy, they “must maintain a 1.5% primary balance surplus every year in order to bring our debt levels to sustainable levels.” Thus, it’s important for them to manage expenditure.
He further revealed that they are willing to sit with GRNMA and the Health Ministry to agree on a roadmap that will help them incorporate what can be accommodated into the budget for next year. Thus, they are appealing to ‘revered nurses’ to corporate with them
