Government says it will use the windfall from the upstream petroleum sector to make up for its revenue shortfall in the 2022 budget. 

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta revealed this on Monday, July 25, when he presented the 2022 mid-year budget to Parliament for approval.

Mr. Ofori-Atta said the government will not request supplementary funds for its activities for the rest of the year.

Although, he lamented about the impact of the external factors that have crippled the revenue sectors of the economy, he insisted that government will judiciously use the scarce resources at its disposal for the benefit of Ghanaians. 

“We have seen some major shifts in our budget assumptions compared to November 2021, when we presented the budget. These changes have led to reduced revenues, increased interest payments and changes in interest rates and exchange rates. 

However, we are committed to staying within the appropriation for 2022. In spite of the underperforming revenues and strong external headwinds, we are not seeking additional funds in this mid-year review.

We are determined to efficiently use the windfall from the upstream from the petroleum sector to make up for our revenue shortfall and aggressively improve our revenue even as we rationalise expenditures,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Mr Ofori-Atta also assured Ghanaians that the government is determined to turn the current economic challenges around. 

According to him, the government will not renege on doing that for the betterment of the ordinary Ghanaian.

“We are not wavering at all in our resolve to turn this country around. Ours is a history of turning things around when the country is in crisis. When the NPP government took over the reins of government in 2017, we inherited a challenged economy under an IMF programme, which we successfully turned around and exited the programme in 27 months," Mr. Ofori-Atta stated.