Minister for Finance Ken Ofori-Atta has stated the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has done more in terms of social interventions than any other since 1992.
According to him, while the Akufo-Addo government has not eliminated suffering, it has provided more reliefs to the people than the National Democratic Congress (NDC) governments.
The interventions, Mr Ofori-Atta listed, include the historic free Senior High School (SHS) education policy for 1.2 million Ghanaian students, free Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme and free hot meals for 3.4 million pupils in basic schools.
He gave assurance that the Akufo-Addo administration will continue to work towards mitigating the burdens imposed by the global impact of COVID-19 on Ghanaians.
Mr. Ofori-Atta stated this when he presented the government’s 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament last Wednesday.
The government, he said, is committed to tackling the social ills of expenditure control, corruption, recurring leakages and low productivity.
He noted that the NPP administration will work with Labour and Employers to institute a national labour conference to promote productivity in all its forms.
“Mr. Speaker, with his renewed mandate, H.E. the President is resolute that in the next three years, he will establish a stronger and more stable economy, an entrepreneurial nation that empowers young people to be bold, innovative, proactive and dynamic to contribute to the transformation of our country.
“In addition to continuing the implementation of our flagship programmes, we will scale up interventions under the GH¢100 billion ‘Obaatan pa’ programme, especially in the Agriculture and Industrial Sectors, and the YouStart agenda,” he added.
He indicated that through the 2022 Budget, the government will activate the YouStart Programme nationwide to promote skills and entrepreneurship amongst the Youth and support the private sector to expand and provide employment opportunities for the people.
“We will build our financial architecture to be responsive and world class and prioritise the completion of on-going projects in health, education and housing sectors to drive social mobility and transformation,” he added
The government, he said, will continue to reposition the economy through its regional hubs programme to optimize the opportunities in the sub-region and continent.
“We will continue to resource our security agencies to defend and protect Ghana and Ghanaians; and we will continue to reform the energy sector, promote climate resilience and drive the adoption of renewable energy technologies.”
