COVID-19 outbreak may force revisit of budget projections – Dr Dziwornu

By Iddi Yire, GNA

Accra, March 19, GNA – The Government is likely to miss its first quarter revenue target for the year due to the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Dr. Raymond Dziwornu, Dean, Faculty of Accounting and Finance, University of Professional Studies, Accra, has said.

The disease outbreak, he noted, had slowed down business activities, something, that would eventually affect revenue collection.

Dr. Dziwornu, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said it would be challenging for the government to meet its targeted revenue.

“These are not good times for us, given the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading across the globe,” he said.

The novel coronavirus has now infected more than 200,000 people and killed more than 8,900 globally.

However, 84,000 people have recovered from the infection, according to data collected by the Johns Hopkins University.

Ghana recorded its first two confirmed cases on Thursday, March 12, but the total case count had risen to nine as of 0840 hours on Thursday, March 19.

Dr. Dziwornu explained that the impact of the pandemic was wide and broad, cutting across all sectors of the economy - Aviation, Tourism, Trade and Economic, Education and Religion.

It is estimated that the aviation industry would be losing about US$12.8 billion, the International Air Transportation Association has said.

The aviation industry is facing a crisis with the mass cancellation of flights and the suspension of trips to certain routes.

The outbreak is also hampering the operations of the hotel and tourism industries because people are no longer willing to travel.

“Manufacturing and trading activities have slowed down, while some companies are not able to meet their supply requests due to the restrictions that have been imposed by countries,” he said.

He, however, suggested that companies may innovate to turn the threat of COVID-19 into opportunity.

He said some Ghanaians were engaging in panic buying for fear that should the situation get worse they could get something to depend on at home.

This was affecting prices of certain goods and services, such as hand sanitizers.

He said should Ghana be able to contain the COVID-19 outbreak within the next four weeks, he was hopeful that businesses would normalize and Ghanaians would go about their work without fear of infection.

He, therefore, advised Ghanaians to comply with the Presidential directives, which has banned all mass gatherings and congregational worships as part efforts to contain the disease.

Ghanaians must keep practising good personal hygiene such as regular hand washing with soap under running water and the use of hand sanitizers to help prevent the risk of infection.

GNA

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