Former President John Dramani Mahama has vented his spleen over the budget allocation to the Office of the President.

Mr Mahama revealed that the budget for the Presidency has dramatically increased from GH¢700 million to GH¢3.1bn in the past six years.

Taken aback by the budget, the former president questioned the rationale behind the astronomical increase.

Mr John Mahama in a tweet on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, noted that the Akufo-Addo government must cut down on its expenditure to ameliorate the hardships posed by the economic crisis.

He said, “for expenditure rationalisation to be successful, it must first start in the President’s office.”

The country, he says, can recoup about GH¢1bn should the Office of the President decide to slash its budget.

Ghana has been plunged into a series of economic challenges after it recorded its first two cases of COVID-19 in March 2020.

Prices of fuel, food, and transport fares have rapidly soared in the last few years, exacerbating the plight of citizens in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The country has also been downgraded by some international rating agencies.

As a result of the country’s inability to fix its liquidity and debt challenges, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ghana's Long-Term Local- and Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to 'CC', from 'CCC'.

Ghana has now appealed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion bailout due to its restricted access to international financial markets and difficulties in mobilising domestic revenue to remedy the situation.

President Akufo-Addo, on October 30, 2022 also highlighted key measures to address some specific challenges that he believes are the causes of the country's economic crisis.

He mentioned that the government will improve the revenue collection effort from the current tax-revenue to GDP ratio of 13% to between 18-20%.

He also indicated that the government will reduce Ghana’s total public debt-to-GDP ratio to about 55% in present value terms by 2028.

The President added that his administration will, among other things, review the reforms in the energy sector, cap statutory funds, implement the Tax Exemption Act, implement a new property rate regime, make a 30% cut in the salaries of political office holders, and encourage the habit of eating what you grow.

Meanwhile, some citizens dissatisfied with the government’s economic management approach have called for the resignation of the President and his Veep, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, as well as Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.

Source: The Independent Ghana