The Minister for Finance Ken Ofori – Atta has refuted claims that the government has not been forthcoming about its COVID-19 expenditure.
Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, he said all programmed, mobilised and utilised funds on the coronavirus pandemic have been dully reported in line with the government’s commitment to accountability and transparency.
This follows the Minority NDC MP’s demand for an audit of all Covid-19-related expenses due to discrepancies in the government’s expenditure data.
In response to questions, Mr. Ofori-Atta stated that the government is transparent about its expenditure items and will maintain an open-door policy, welcoming any opportunity to engage in the national interest.
“Mr. Speaker, at this juncture, I wish to dispel the notion that there have been inconsistencies in government data on Covid-19. The President intimated during that State of the Nation Address on March 30, 2022, that we had mobilized about GhC17.7 billion since 2020 to fight the pandemic,” he said.
“We have subsequently reconciled the data and I can report that as of the end of May 2022, we have mobilized GhC18.19 billion to mitigate the effect of the pandemic. Again, when the Vice President indicated on April 7, 2022, at the National TESCON Conference that the government had spent GhC8.1 billion on Covid-19, it was within the context of expenditures for 2020 as I have already indicated,” he added.
According to the Minister, GHC1,550 million was apportioned under the Support to Households Programme, GHC1,049 million was allocated to health response-supplies equipment and relief for health workers, GHC600 million was released to begin the construction across the country, and a further GHC763.92 million was released to continue the construction of the 111 district hospitals.
He also stated that the government budgeted an amount of GHC875 million for security operations, evacuation of Ghanaians stranded abroad, and coordination of MMDA’s sanitation and disinfection exercises.
“In line with measures to stabilize the economy after the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government implemented programmes to revitalize the economy and protect jobs. This includes the GHC600 million utilized under Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAPBuSS) by the NBSSI, the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA),” the Minister stated.
The Minister announced that GHC929.30 million had been allocated for vaccine procurement. Among other key government disbursements, a total of GHC775.82 million was released for the purchase of Sputnik V, the Janssen COV SARS 2 COVID Vaccines, and the Emergency deployment of vaccines in schools.
