President Akufo-Addo Invites Legislators To Salary Cuts
President Akufo-Addo has called on Members of Ghana’s Parliament to join in the path taken by the Executive arm of government to help cut expenditure as a means of achieving the 7.4% fiscal deficit target of GDP for 2022.
Last week the Finance Minister, as means of mitigating the impact of the economic downturn, announced that Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) have cut discretionary expenditure further by 10% after a 20% cut at the beginning of the year.
Additionally, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) will contribute 30% of their salaries from April to December 2022 to the consolidated Fund, members of the Council of State are cutting their allowances by 20%, a moratorium is placed on all foreign travels except for pre-approved critical/statutory travels.
Also, the executive has cut expenditure on all meetings and conferences by 50% and introduced a 50% cut in fuel coupons for political appointees and Heads of Institutions.
Addressing the legislators today March 30, in Parliament, President Akufo-Addo said “the measures that have been announced by the Minister for Finance are meant to demonstrate that we are aware that we are in difficult times, and we are addressing the situation. The belt-tightening measures being set for members of the Executive have been elaborated within this context.”
He added that “We hope you (Parliament) are going to join us in this”.
The president stated that “the bombs might be dropping on cities half a world away but they are hitting our pockets here in Ghana. Even so, we have managed to ensure that fuel supplies have not been disrupted, unlike in several other parts of the world.”
Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini
