Govt Blows GH¢32.7bn On Electricity

 

The Akufo-Addo-led government has invested an amount of GH¢32.7 billion to keep the lights on and support the growth of businesses for the past seven years in office.

The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta said this when presenting the 2024 Budget Statement in Parliament on Wednesday, 15th November, 2023, where he noted that ‘’we believe it has been seven years of grace and positive impact. We are determined to do more to boost the capacity of the private sector to expand productivity and create jobs’’.

According to him, aside from that he noted the government has invested GH¢25.3 billion to facilitate the repositioning of the financial sector and enhance its ability to assist business operations, adding that ‘’To date, the Development Bank Ghana has facilitated GH¢1 billion in competitive financing for the private sector, and GIRSAL continues to mitigate risks in the agriculture sector’’.

He further explained that the government has supported 100,000 young graduates to secure workplace experience and employment by investing GH¢2.4 billion in NABCo, as well as invested GH¢7.1 billion to build road and transport infrastructure to improve connectivity and productivity.

‘’Invested GH¢541.5 million in 169 1D1F enterprises to scale-up value-addition and provided 140,000 additional jobs; and created over 2.3 million jobs in the private and public sectors (approximately 900,000 in the private sector and 1.4 million in the public sector)’’ he noted.

He continued that ‘’Capital spending is equally important to the future of our country, consequently, we mobilized and deployed resources to; expand the railway network, including connecting Tema to Mpakadan to promote trade on the Eastern Corridor; construction of 1 fish landing sites and two (2) fishing harbors at the cost of GH¢19.5 million to promote the fishery-based livelihoods of our coastal folks, and also improve community infrastructure by investing GH¢2.2 billion into over 2,000 projects under the IPEP initiative.

He indicated that the objective is to promote inner city development by spending GH¢190.3 million under the Zongo Development Fund; and expand and improve the road network by investing about GH¢16 billion, recording the most kilometers of roads and interchanges done in our history.

‘’Mr. Speaker, we also invested GH¢1.7 billion in the National Identification Scheme to ensure that 17.5 million eligible Ghanaians acquire security-sensitive ID Cards. This has laid the foundation for a prosperous future where digitalization provides more convenience, introduces an added layer of efficiency in delivering public services, and enhances our ability to safeguard our national interests’’.

‘’Mr. Speaker, I want to stress at this juncture that GHANA HAS PAID ITS DUES, HAS TURNED THE CORNER, AND GETTING BACK ON TRACK. Despite these successes, we have to do more to reinforce our stability and guarantee decent jobs with good pay for young people. As such, through the 2024 Budget, we will deliver even more investment across the real sector to place our economy on a firm growth trajectory that will create more jobs, safeguard our climate prospects, and deeply entrench Ghana as the seed country for Africa’s development renaissance,’’ Ken Ofori-Atta added.

-BY Daniel Bampoe

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