Gov’t to outline road contractor payments in mid-year budget— Ampem Nyarko
Deputy Finance Minister, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, has announced that the government will provide detailed updates on payments owed to road contractors during the upcoming mid-year budget review, as part of ongoing efforts to manage arrears and reinforce fiscal discipline.
Speaking on Citi FM’s Breakfast Show on Wednesday, July 2, Mr. Nyarko said a comprehensive audit of outstanding arrears, conducted by the Auditor-General in collaboration with leading accounting firms, has been completed.
The audit revealed that some contractor claims had been disallowed.
“All these will be programmed in our budget. Now, the auditor general and the top accounting firms that did the auditing of the arrears have already brought some reports that have indicated that some of the amounts are being disallowed.”
“So, in the mid-year budget review, Dr. Forson will report on that, and we will indicate what the audited arrears are. Then, we will also indicate the plans to clear them,” he said.
“Already, we have made plans for Gh¢13 billion, which we are religiously pursuing this year. In next year’s budget, we will announce another amount,” he noted.
Mr. Nyarko emphasised that government is determined to avoid the accumulation of new arrears and is prioritising fiscal discipline through better expenditure controls.
“That is why we are managing the financing so well that we do not have arrears build-up, and we have given commitment authorisation so that we don’t spend above what has been budgeted for the year,” he said.
He also criticised the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration for what he described as reckless fiscal management, arguing that it contributed to Ghana’s debt challenges.
“Because if we go the way they [NPP] did, we will be clearing the arrears, and we will be building up more arrears. That is not how to manage an economy,” he argued.
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