[ 2014-07-22 ]

Supplementary budget: Finance Ministry hopeful of donors’, rating agencies’ reaction
The Finance Minister asked parliament to approve a
GH₵3,196,855,671 supplementary budget
estimate last week -- in conformity with Article
179(8) of the Constitution -- for the rest of the
year.

Rating agencies, Fitch and Moody’s, have
downgraded the country's credit worthiness because
it has not done much to check the budget overruns,
while the country’s donor partners are still
holding up funds for various development projects
due to concerns over management of the economy.

However, Deputy Minister of Finance, Ato Forson,
says their verdict on the economy will soon
change.

“Everyone out there will appreciate the fact
that government has been forthright. Indeed
looking at the shocks that we have actually had
for the rest of the year there is the need for us
to actually go out there with a supplementary
budget”, he said.

He said his outfit has been bold enough to take
rigourous measures to manage the country’s
economy.

“I think the rating agencies should take this in
good faith. They already have the numbers. It is
not this [supplementary budget] that is going to
inform anything”, he said.


Fitch, is expected to review Ghana's credit
ratings in September, in what some analysts have
suggested will result in a further downgrade of
the country’s economy in view of its public
debet and budget overruns.

Another rating agency, Moody’s in June
downgraded Ghana's credit ratings to B2 from B1 .

The agency maintained that it downgraded Ghana
because government was not doing enough to check
the budget overruns.

Source - MyjoyOnline

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