The Minority has raised concerns about the responses of the Finance Minister-designate, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, during his vetting on Monday, January 13.

Addressing a press conference, Dr Gideon Boako, Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North, expressed reservations about Dr Forson’s plans to address revenue shortfalls, describing his responses as evasive and unconvincing.

Dr Boako highlighted that the Minister-designate failed to provide clarity on how he intends to manage the revenue gaps without imposing additional financial burden on Ghanaians.

“The Minister Designate's unconvincing responses regarding how he intends to make up for the revenue shortfalls leave us with no choice but to think that he will scrap these taxes but introduce new ones, perhaps more draconian than those he would scrap,” Dr Boako stated.

He emphasised that such a move would be tantamount to giving with one hand and taking with the other.

The minority also questioned Dr Forson’s integrity, pointing out inconsistencies in his responses. During the vetting, Dr Forson was accused of using incorrect data to defend his claims regarding the fiscal deficit for 2016.

He had initially cited a figure of 6.1%, claiming he was being charitable, but this conflicted with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) data, which placed the deficit at 6.3%. Dr Boako criticised this approach, stating, “Can a Minister boldly claim he was charitable in presenting incorrect figures? Interesting.”