Inefficiency in government spending must be checked – Majority leader
Leader of the Majority Caucus in Ghana’s parliament Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has tasked all committees in the legislature to make sure to monitor allocations disbursed to various sectors of the economy to give Ghanaians value for money and instil the confidence reposed in them getting the opportunity to represent their constituencies.
He urged his fellow lawmakers to go on this tangent during a post-2022 budget presentation workshop on Saturday, November 20th.
The lawmaker for Suame in the Ashanti Region expressed worry about the fact that in Ghana’s population only 10 % of the population are registered as taxpayers.
While speaking at the event in Ho, he lamented that the government has not been able to raise enough domestic revenue to develop the country.
“Our inability to raise enough domestic revenue to meet government expenditure with less than 10 per cent of the total working-class registered as taxpayers, how can the government implement policies and programmes to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians.
“This is quite worrying and requires urgent steps to correct same.”
He added “Another area that requires attention is efficiency in government spending. Higher budgetary allocation alone may not translate into social and economic outcomes unless specific measures are implemented to correct the underlining inefficiency in spending.
“Here, I believe the committees of Parliament are required, as I keep saying, to trace and track the allocations that are made to the various sectors of the economy in order to assure our countrymen and women that indeed, there is value for money in the expenditures that are made on behalf of the people of this country.”
Leader, of the Minority Caucus Haruna Iddrisu taking his turn at the forum, said that his side in Parliament will not support the controversial E-levy policy proposal in the 2022 budget statement.
He explained that the levy serves as a disincentive for the growth of the digital economy.
He said “Mr Speaker, understandably, we see that the Minister of Finance seeks to introduce some measures including the now popularly declared e-levy or digital levy as some have quite named it.
“Mr Speaker, our concern is whether the e-levy itself is not and will not be a disincentive to the growth of [the] digital economy in our country. We are convinced that the e-levy may as well even be a disincentive to investment and a disincentive to private sector development in our country.
“We in the minority may not and will not support [the] government with the introduction of that particular e-levy. We are unable to build [a] national consensus on that particular matter.”
The introduction of the levy attracted concerns among a section of Ghanaians.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
