Former Finance Minister under the erstwhile Mahama-administration, Seth Terkper has said the government is not actually using the COVID-19 funds for what it must be using it for.
According to Mr Terkper, funds needed to fully fight the pandemic has been exceeded through the $ 1 billion International Monetary Fund loan, $219 million drawdowns from the Stabilisation Fund, the World Bank loan as well as the funds accrued from the National COVID-19 Trust Fund.
Despite having enough resources to finance the many adverse impacts associated with the pandemic, the government continues to borrow under the guise of using it for Covid-19.
His assertion follows the GHS10 billion support requested by the Government of Ghana from the Central Bank to finance its budget deficit as a result of the pandemic.
In a media interaction on Friday, Seth Terkper called on the government to come out and tell citizens what they are actually using the COVID-19 funds for.
“Government is using funds from Covid-19 to finance something and is not Covid-19, the government has to come clear and tell Ghanaians what it is financing with Covid-19 funds. We are not against the idea of borrowing to finance debts, but the issue is that don’t use Covid-19 as a cover-up or an excuse for it,” he said.
In a related development, Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s incumbent finance minister, following Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), is scheduled to present the mid-year budget review on Thursday, July 23, 2020.
On records, Seth Emmanuel Terkper is a Chartered Accountant and the former Minister for Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana. Seth Terkper was born in Somanya in the Eastern Region of Ghana, where he started his Elementary School education in the Presby cluster of schools.
Source: TheBBCghana.Com
