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Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has reiterated that the Ghanaian economy did better than expected in 2023.
According to him, this is due to the implementation of strong fiscal and monetary policy measures resulting in continued economic recovery.
Provisional data on the performance of the economy for the first nine months of 2023 showed a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth averaged 3.2% in the first half of 2023 compared to 2.9% in the same period in 2022. Headline Inflation also declined from 54.1% percent in December 2022 to 35.2% in October 2023, while cumulative depreciation of the Ghana cedi was 25.7% percent compared to 54.1% over the same period in 2022.
In the 2024 Citizens Budget, an abridged and simplified version of the 2024 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, Mr. Ofori-Atta said the government is focused on managing its finances judiciously and keeping the economy stable despite all the challenges.
“We are confident that we can keep growing and ensure that our vulnerable citizens are taken care of through increased allocations to the Capitation Grant, Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) and the School Feeding Programme.”
Government will continue to be accountable, transparent, and responsive to you, the people of Ghana. “Our main goals are to improve and deliver public services like roads, schools, health, and farming. For agriculture, we would increase productivity by modernising the sector with better tools, seeds, and fertilizers”, he added.
In the middle of 2023, the government made changes to the financial plan based on new assumptions about our country’s resources.
Total Revenue and Grants amounted to GH¢79.091 billion, about 9.3% of Gross Domestic Product. This was lower than the target of GH¢82.182 billion by GH¢3.090 billion.
Total Expenditure as of August 2023 also amounted to GH¢104.621 billion which is 12.2% of GDP. This was 14.1% less than the target of GH¢121.773 billion or 14.2% of GDP.
The provisional debt stock as at end-September 2023 also showed total central government and guaranteed debt of GH¢567.346 billion ($51,050 million), equivalent to 66.4% of GDP.
