Govt Urged to Ensure Efficient Distribution of Public Funds

Panelists at 2019 budget discussion at the Department of Finance, School of Business at the University of Cape Coast, have admonished the government not to slip into the usual temptation of going back to the things that led to an IMF engagement.

Prof John Gatsi, Head of Finance Department, University of Cape Coast, who was the chairman of round table discussion where students and lecturers participated indicated that the history of rebasing and exit from an IMF programme always led to over borrowing and return to indiscipline which later impaired economic governance.

He admonished government to see 2019 as an opportunity to demonstrate commitment to valuable lessons over the period to avoid slippages.

Dr William Cantah, a lecturer, in his contribution recognised the relative stability of the economy and called on the government to ensure efficient distribution of public funds.

He said NABCO was important to reduce the psychological threat of unemployment among the youth but lacks efficiency of distribution of national revenue.

Dr William Kantah praised the government for the macroeconomic performance, but questioned its commitment to domestic private sector as access to credit to private sector.

He also questioned why World Bank statistics indicated 24 per cent of the population being poor "so why introduce Free SHS for all and divert a chunk of petroleum revenue to finance the programme."

Mr Seyram Kawor, a lecturer, who was also a panellist encouraged Ghanaians to register for their TINs to help in tax administration reforms but warn that the government was losing its acclaimed flexible orientation to businesses.

Contributions from the students showed that the commitment by the government to the development of indigenous businesses was not backed by evidence in the face of the continuous collapse of Ghanaian-owned businesses.

Dr Samuel Dadzie, a panellist, and agricultural economists welcomed the new model to the Planting for Foods and Jobs, but advised the government to improve implementation of the programme to deal with the limitation of productivity and ensure enhanced contribution to the economy.

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