Alexander Afenyo-Markin and Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson
Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has asserted that the 2024 budget is a true definition of an empty budget.
Reacting to the presentation of the budget statement, he said the budget was insensitive and out of touch.
“Clearly, Mr. Speaker, the NPP government has said bye, bye to the people of Ghana,” he asserted.
The Minority Leader asserted that the Finance Minister and members of the Economic Management Team were leaving behind a bankrupt economy.
“It is important for us to know that this government is leaving behind a default economy and a budget that is debt-riddled and over-taxed,” he argued.
According to him, interest rate, lending rate and unemployment have plugged the economy with a misery index never recorded in the history of the country.
He said the government had failed to deal with corruption and ensure that living conditions are in best form.
Majority
The Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, rebutted the claims of the Minority Leader, asserting that Ghana’s economy is in better shape than it was under the NDC government when Dr. Forson was a Deputy Finance Minister.
“The Minority Leader was a Deputy Finance Minister when the economy was in its worst situation. This is the same Dr. Ato Forson who was a Deputy Finance Minister, without COVID-19, could not with his boss and their government implement the Free SHS,” he contended.
He intimated that the NPP government, in the midst of the crisis, had implemented various social interventions, adding, “Today, the figures bear us out.”
“We have a transition enrolment rate of over 80% as compared to the 55% in your era,” he posited.
“Today because of the liberty of opposition, you are saying that the Honourable Finance Minister has under-performed. You have forgotten that your administration had the worst performance in this country,” he said.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House