1 day ago
2 ARTICLE AD
Parliament has approved the 2025 Appropriation Bill, allowing the government to access GH¢293 billion from the consolidated fund and other public sources for the 2025 financial year.
This legislation provides the framework for government spending, ensuring resources are directed towards critical sectors of the economy.
The approved budget includes a significant allocation of GH¢68 billion for wages and salaries, underscoring the government’s commitment to improving the living standards of public sector workers.
Additionally, GH¢13 billion has been set aside to clear outstanding arrears from previous years.
During the debate on the bill, the Minister for Finance, Dr Casiel Ato Forson, explained that the excess amount of GH¢3 billion observed in the appropriation was due to additional revenue generated through Internally Generated Funds (IGF).
According to the minister, these additional revenues would be used to settle accumulated arrears from the past year.
“Mr Speaker, we agreed that those additional revenues will be used to pay down arrears that have been accumulated in the last year.
“This does not affect the bottom line, the primary balance as a surplus of 1.5 per cent. We worked closely with the committee and explained these details to them,” Dr Forson added.
He further noted that the approval of the Appropriation Bill would not take effect until it had been assented to.
The Minister stressed that while the bill grants authorisation to spend, actual expenditure would depend on the availability of funds, clarifying that spending could be below, but not exceed the allocated amount.
Meanwhile, the Minority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyir, Annoh Dompreh, raised concerns over the GH¢3 billion excess in the appropriation figure.
He requested further explanation from the Minister of Finance regarding this discrepancy.
He also questioned the inclusion of the Gold Board in the appropriation, arguing that the process for its consideration was not yet complete.
“We have started the process, but we are not done yet. So we cannot put the cart before the horse, yet I find the Gold Board captured in the appropriation. Would you want to discount it and wait for its passage into law before capturing it in the appropriation?” Annoh Dompreh queried.
Despite these concerns, he expressed his support for the passage of the bill while demanding further clarification on the issues raised
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
