TEXT: Full and Highlights of the mid-year fiscal policy review

Ken Ofori-Atta is the Minister of Finance

INTRODUCTION

In fulfilment of the President’s promise, Government has:

Updates on Macroeconomic Developments in 2016

MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE (JANUARY-JUNE, 2017)

o             Real GDP Growth for first quarter was 6.6 percent  against 4.4 percent for the same period in 2016;

?             Agriculture was 7.8 percent against 5 percent for the same period in 2016;

?             Industry was 11.5 percent against 1.8 percent for the same period in 2016;

?             Services was 3.7 percent against 6.6 percent for the same period in 2016.

o             Non-oil GDP growth rate was 3.9 percent against 6.3 percent for the same period in 2016;

Provisional Fiscal Performance January-June

Petroleum Receipts

Developments in Public Debt

REVISED MACROECONOMIC TARGETS FOR 2017

Revisions to Total Revenue and Grants, and Expenditure

Key revisions to expenditures include:

Overall Balance and Financing

Government to introduce a numerical fiscal rule to guide implementation of Fiscal Policy. In this regard an amendment to the PFMA to limit fiscal Deficit within a range of 3 to 5 percent of GDP for any financial year to be brought to Parliament.

STATUS OF KEY SECTOR POLICY INITIATIVES

Agriculture Sector

‘Planting for Food and Jobs’:

Cocoa

Education

?             Provision of four core textbooks for all first year students;

?             Rationalization of teacher deployment and training at the SHS level;

?             Optimization of instruction time by extending the school day as well as the number of instructional days;

?             Establishment of robust school inspection and accountability systems; and

?             One hot meal a day for day students.

Railways Development

Construction of the Tema to Akosombo rail line has commenced and it is projected to be completed by mid-2020.

Youth Employment Agency (YEA)

Over 60,000 unemployed youth to be employed under the Security, Afforestation, Graduate internship, Paid internship and Sanitation modules

Anti-Galamsey – Multilateral Mining Integration Project (MMIP)

Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP)

Formalising the Economy and Financial Inclusion

Expenditure Management and Commitment Control

2018 Wage Negotiations

Conclusion

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Source: 3news.com | Ghana

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