2016 Budget Revised...Parliament Asked To Approve Additional Ȼ1.8b

Seth Terkper

Government has revised the 2016 budget and asked Parliament to approve Ghc1.8 billion to help run programmes and policies for the rest of the year, 2016.

The Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper made this known in Parliament on Monday when he presented a revised macro-economic targets for the year in the mid-year budget review.

He explained the move has been necessitated by the huge shortfalls in revenue generation and that government will need the extra cash to invest in key sectors of the economy.

The presentation also highlighted government’s fiscal plans for the remaining months of the year 

The overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by 4.1 per cent instead of the previous projection of 5.4 per cent, while non-oil GDP (excluding oil and gas) is also expected to grow by 4.6 per cent.

These developments have taken into consideration the release of revised GDP figures for 2015 by the Ghana Statistical Service, revision of gold production forecasts for 2016-18 and the shutdown of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah.

Production of crude oil from the Jubilee fields has reduced from 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to an average of 90,000 bpd due to some technical challenges facing the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah since the year began.

The economy has had to bear the brunt of crude oil price volatility on the world market, with the price dropping at one time below $30 before rising to the present $45. 69 per barrel against the government’s budgeted $53 per barrel. Since the year began, the price of the commodity has dropped by 70 per cent



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Source: Graphic.com.gh