New Finance Minister committed to cleaning up public finances, debts

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta says he is committed to creating wealth and improving people’s lives by ensuring economic freedom as the mainstay of the economy.

He also promised in response to his vision for his tenure the commitment to cleaning up our public finances, managing the enormous debt that “we have inherited in order to create the needed fiscal space, invest in critical infrastructure, and empower the private sector to create jobs.”

Mr Ofori-Atta who assumed office as Finance Minister brings to the Ministry over 30 years experience in the Ghanaian and international financial sector.

Together with 12 other Ministers-designate, they were approved by Parliament on Friday, January 27, after going through a successful vetting process by the Appointments Committee of Parliament and later sworn-in by the President.

Minister’s immediate priority is to protect the public purse, stabilize Ghana’s macro economy, spearhead anti-corruption, increase revenue and introduce policy initiatives to grow the economy for the private sector to thrive and create jobs.

The legacy of the Ministry will be a professional institution with global standards in treasury and risk management to give effect to enforcing the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), he added.

He intends to work hard to get the economy growing eventually at double digits through policies and strategies that will increase revenue, reduce waste, control spending, grow the economy to create jobs.

The Minister noted that the three-year International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme was needed to achieve fiscal consolidation, though it is presently in a delicate state.

“I am committed to an IMF programme which addresses our current predicaments and will ensure that we also meet all the necessary structural benchmarks that may be suggested. As our president has stated, we now need to ‘get Ghana working again in order to create jobs,’” he said.

He further assured that he will deliver with God’s guidance on the New Patriotic Party’s 2016 manifesto pledges in spite of the daunting economic challenges.

He is optimistic that in the President’s first budget, there will be a clear path towards fulfilling the manifesto pledges and opening economic space for the private sector to thrive.

Source: myjoyonline