Ghana considers ‘fiscal responsibility law’ to curb spending limits
The law would limit fiscal deficit to 5% of GDP and have provisions to punish government officials who over-spend
Accra — Ghana is considering passing a law that will restrict government’s fiscal deficit to not more than 5% of GDP, the country’s senior minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo said on Monday. The proposed "fiscal responsibility law" will have provisions to punish government officials who exceed spending limits, Osafo-Maafo told a meeting of business leaders in the capital Accra. Ghana, which exports cocoa, gold and oil, is following a three-year programme with the International Monetary Fund to restore fiscal balance to an economy dogged by a high fiscal deficit and large public debt, after a period of exuberance during the oil boom years. "We are proposing a fiscal responsibility law that will restrict government spending within a band of 3% to 5% fiscal deficit — anything above 5% should be considered an infringement," he said. The government of President Nana Akufo-Addo, which assumed office in January, plans to lower fiscal deficit to 6.3% in 2017, from 9.3% in 2016, saying: "The essence of...
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