Former President John Mahama has bemoaned the astronomical increase in the budget of the Office of the President over the last six years. 

Mr Mahama says for the past six years, the budget for the Presidency has ballooned from ¢700 million to ¢3.1bn.

According to him, this is unsustainable, especially in the current economic crisis the country finds itself.

He has thus urged government to slash the budget by at least ¢1bn. 

In a tweet on Tuesday, November 8, he insisted that is the first place for expenditure rationalisation to start.

The budget for the Office of the President has ballooned, over the last six years, from GH¢700m to GH¢ 3.1bn in 2022. For expenditure rationalization to be successful, it must first start in the President’s office. Substantial savings of GH¢1bn can be made by slashing the budget.

— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) November 8, 2022

“The budget for the Office of the President has ballooned, over the last six years, from ¢700m to ¢ 3.1bn in 2022. 

“For expenditure rationalization to be successful, it must first start in the President’s office. 

“Substantial savings of ¢1bn can be made by slashing the budget.”

Prices of fuel, goods and services have rapidly soared in the last few months, plunging several households into poverty.

Recently, international rating agencies have downgraded Ghana’s economy to reflect the country’s inability to fix its liquidity and debt challenges.

With limited access to the international financial markets and challenges with domestic revenue mobilisation to rescue the situation, Ghana has now turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion bailout.

However, President Akufo-Addo addressed the nation on Sunday, October 30, about measures his government was taking to curtail the current economic crisis, hinting at government possibly securing a deal with the IMF by the end of the year.

According to him, the country is likely to arrive at an agreement by December to get the crucial bailout it seeks.