Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has called on Ghanaians, especially those who are opposing the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, to rally behind the policy proposals by the government to tackle the challenges confronting the nation.
The approval of the budget, according to him, will go a long way to support an entrepreneurial environment as a way of tackling unemployment in the country.
Mr Ofori-Atta made the call at the launch of the 73rd Annual New Year School and Conference organised by the University of Ghana.
“The government was looking at ways to finance, train and raise entrepreneurs in the country. I am calling on everyone to help approve the budget, so that by January 1, 2022, there will be approved appropriation to deepen the current efforts in transforming the economy,” he appealed.
The Siaws, the Sikkens…
The Minster cited examples of Ghanaian entrepreneurs who in the past built strong industries and created jobs as one of the objectives of the government.
“Help get the budget so that we see more of the Siaws, the Sikkens, and the Owusus’, and encourage our youth to participate in this risky venture of becoming entrepreneurs. So, this forms the primary reason why the 2022 budget is anchored on building an entrepreneurial nation,” he said.
“Essentially, the budget is a clarion call for all citizens to support the trust of the government’s direction in the medium-term of promoting entrepreneurship,” he said.
He explained that the government is focused on entrepreneurship in a bid to arrest the rising unemployment levels in the country, which had necessitated the birth of another initiative, dubbed ‘YouStart’, to help young people start and grow small businesses.
“The initiative, ‘YouStart’, is looking to create 1 million jobs with a seed capital of GHS1 billion, and would take effect from March 2022 and would be a vehicle for supporting young entrepreneurs to gain access to capital, training, technical skills, and mentoring to enable them to launch and operate their own businesses,” he explained.
Offers hope
Meanwhile, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Jinapor, says the budget offers the country hope after years of mismanagement by the NDC, as well as the challenges posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Contributing to the debate on the budget in Parliament yesterday, he noted that never in the history of Ghana had a budget tackled the challenges confronting the citizenry head-on like the 2022 budget.
He recalled that Ghanaians, under the NDC, suffered a lot, and just when the NPP had worked hard to put the economy back on the path of progress, it was hard-hit with the novel coronavirus pandemic, which nearly eroded the gains the Akufo-Addo administration had made.
Growth
According to him, the first quarter of 2021, just before the coronavirus pandemic, the Ghanaian economy was growing at 7 percent, compared to the 3.5 percent growth recorded under former President John Mahama in 2016.
This achievement, he noted, was so remarkable that the citizenry were beginning to enjoy the good life that they had so desired, when, out of nowhere, the novel coronavirus reared its ugly head and devastated the global economy, with Ghana being no exception.
He said the budget seeks to deal with the Ghanaian peculiar situation which had arisen out of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that if Parliament were to support the budget, it would “offer the Ghanaian people this recovery and unleash the jobs for the youth and prosperity for the good people of this country.”
“Mr. Speaker, already, the economy is recovering. Just two days ago, that’s on Monday, November 22, 2021, the Bank of Ghana reported in its updated Composite Index Economic Activity that annual growth rate in September 2021 was 11.2%, compared to 10.8% in 2020, and 4.2% in 2019.
“This is a clear indication that the measures being taken by President Akufo-Addo and his government are leading to recovery of the national economy, and I call on this House to support this budget. I call on the youth of this country to support this budget because this budget is ‘Agyenkwa Budget’. It is the budget that will pull this country out of the doldrums,” he stated.
Touching on the records of the previous NDC government, he stated: “Mr. Speaker, in 2014, there was no pandemic or crisis; in 2015, there was no pandemic or crisis; in 2016, there was no pandemic or crisis, and yet the best GDP growth our opponents (NDC) scored was 3.4%. Today in 2021, with a pandemic, with a global economic crunch, we are growing at 3.5%. Our worse was the NDC’s best.”
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