Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has rescheduled his presentation of the mid-year review to Monday July 31.
The minister was initially expected to have carried out the review on July 26 but sources close to the ministry say this was just one of the dates being considered for the presentation and this should not be seen as postponement.
Focus of mid-year review
According to sources the minister will be giving an update on how the economy has fared so far including updates on the revenue and the expenditure possibly till June this year.
However, the ministry has ruled out supplementary budget explaining that they are committed to working within the budget and would not spend outside what has been approved by parliament.
Update on last year’s performance
The Minister would also give an update on expenditure numbers for last year, especially when latest discovery suggest that budget deficit was higher than initially thought.
Possible Expenditure cuts and fiscal target review
The not so good revenue numbers might force Mr Ofor-Atta to announce some expenditure cuts in line with government’s commitment to work within what it has programmed for this year.
The move has also been influenced by challenges with revenue targets for the first four months of this year.
The minister is likely to revise growth, inflation and fiscal target for this year, following the numbers put out by the statistical service for the first quarter of this year.
Reasons for the presentation
The presentation has been influenced by the public financial Management Act (2015), Act 921 which requires the finance Minister to “not later than July 31 of each year” prepare and submit to parliament a mid-year review.
Government in the 2017 budget is planning to spend some GHC54 billion, against total revenue and grant of GHC44 billion.
