Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to present a supplementary budget to parliament this week.
A member of Parliament in the Chamber last week, Speaker Mike Ocquaye said, the Minister’s presentation rules out any possibility of parliament closing down due to COVID-19. It could be recalled that a number of institutions, both public and private, including Tema Oil Refinery, Ghana Cocoa Board and the Ministry of Finance have shut down offices due to COVID-19.
The Minister is expected to update Ghanaian s on a number of reforms and interventions including the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP). Parliament, in April this year granted government’s request to withdraw an amount of GH₵1.2bn, equivalent to US$219m, from the contingency fund to finance the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP).
Government has also borrowed GH₵10bn from the Bank of Ghana to help deal with the impact of COVID-19.
In April, Government received a US$1bn rapid credit facility from the IMF, part of which is being used to provide an electricity relief package for Ghanaians. The rest will go into supporting the 2020 budget.
