The Finance Ministry and Parliament have begun working together to check the persistent problem of budget overruns during election years.

To ensure a strong fiscal discipline and keep the economy on track, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked the government to submit a 2016 election year budget.

The request by the Washington-based lender, which is part of strict prescriptions under a three-year bailout programme, is expected to complement other measures that will ensure strong fiscal discipline and to keep the economy on track to recovery.

Government has always spent beyond its means for elections, a situation that contributes significantly to yearly budget deficits.

In 2012 which was an election year, the country’s budget deficit reached about 12% of GDP and dropped to about 10.8% the following year.

Seth Terpker said his ministry acknowledges the problem and had already been taking steps to deal with it.

“A special budget committee of parliament had already started discussing on proposed expenditure for [the assembly elections] and elections next year”, Mr Terkper revealed.

Meanwhile, the Minister will later Thursday make a presentation on the state of the economy and outline government strategies to mitigate the impact of recent developments - both at home and abroad - on Ghana’s economy.