A financial analyst at Delax Finance, Alhassan Mutawakillu, has called on the government to take the opportunity in the mid-year review budget to review some of its flagship programmes, cut down on expenditure, and ensure debt sustainability.
According to him, there was a need for the government to review the Free Senior High School flagship program and other non-performing social interventions to cut down on expenditure and reduce the country’s debt level.
He made this known when he was speaking on A1 radio’s Day Break Upper East Show with Mark Smith on the review of the 2023 mid-year budget.
The financial analyst bewailed that the government was not committed to cutting down on expenditure despite the country’s debt level, yet offered an exorbitant rate for people coming in for treasury bills, which he explained would have dire consequences for the economy going forward.
He said it was highly impossible for the country to beat down its inflation of 42.5% to meet the ECOWAS average inflation target of 13.9% at the end of the year, and this was another reason the government should stop borrowing at the local market.
Meanwhile, an Economist, Dr.Samuel Worlanyo Mensah, also called on the government to intensify the fight against corruption in the country to stop financial improprieties and wastage by empowering anti-corruption institutions.
He noted that the current government has the most fascinating social intervention programs in the fourth republic, including Planting For Food and Jobs, One District One Factory, among the lot that could have saved the country from its current woes if well managed.
The Economist reflected that “most of the measures taken by the government to generate revenue were apt; however, Government appointed officials were not committed to the vision of the president, and he himself, who was tagged as a “no-nonsense man” showed little concern where there were rising issues of corruption”.
He emphasised that there was a need for the government to not develop the interest of just generating funds and spending but to spend those funds through laid-down accountability measures.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana
