Economist Professor Peter Quartey has criticised Ghana’s procurement system, saying it is promoting corruption.

According to him, Ghana's procurement system needs to be reviewed to ensure value for money and accountability of government sending.

Speaking to Joy Business, Prof. Quartey who is the Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research believes the concerns of overspending can easily be addressed if the procurement system is properly in place.

“Procurement for most government projects is conducted by the Public Procurement Authority as the state agency mandated to grant approvals before any transaction. Many have questioned the relevance of this process after it emerged that some of these procurements are being overpriced after auditing”.

 “Some of the expenditures that we see are not value for money projects. The procurement processes itself, if you look at the cost of a particular procurement and you get to the market to buy them, the disparity is just too huge to justify or warrant such an expenditure”, he mentioned

Furthermore, the Director of ISSER said “I think our procurement processes are not helping us. We are encouraging or centralising corruption and helping others to benefit from the system. Procurement has to be dealt with as well as ensuring value for money spent in all the areas”, he added.

He called for a tracking system to ensure every procurement is done according to its intended purpose.

Meanwhile, the government is expected to reduce its fiscal deficit for the year as part of the International Monetary Fund three years programme.