2020 Budget: Key achievements as stipulated by Finance Minister

Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has commended the Akufo-Addo government over what he calls impeccable achievements over the last three years.

Presenting the 2020 budget in parliament on Wednesday, Mr. Ofori-Atta said, the government was committed to growing the economy, protecting the vulnerable, and creating jobs and prosperity for the Ghanaian people.

“It is clear from the foregoing that the government of Nana Addo Akufo-Addo has worked hard over the last three years to deliver a substantial number of remarkable achievements which we are going to consolidate going forward, ” he stated.

Read below some key achievements in the last 32 months

• We have doubled the rate of economic growth to make Ghana one of the fastest
growing economies in the world

• We have expanded food production to make Ghana self-sufficient in maize
production through planting for food and jobs

• We have also introduced and implemented Rearing for Food and Jobs to
develop the livestock industry

• Together with Cote d’Ivoire we have reached a landmark agreement to have a
floor price for cocoa from next season.

• We have passed a Fiscal Responsibility Act to entrench fiscal discipline

• We have reduced the fiscal deficit;

• We have established a Fiscal Council;

• We have issued a Eurobond with the Longest tenor, Largest issuance, Least
cost and Largest over subscription;

• We have reduced the rate of debt accumulation

• We have reduced the overall tax burden on Ghanaians

• We have reduced electricity prices

• We have reduced benchmark values by 50%

• We have reduced inflation to its lowest level since 1992

• We have reduced bank lending rates

• We have cleaned up the mess we inherited in the financial sector

• We have saved the deposits of some 4.6 million depositors

• We have established a Financial Stability Council

• We have attained a trade surplus for the first time in over twenty years

• We have reduced our current account deficit

• We have increased Ghana’s import cover with larger foreign exchange
reserves

• We have reduced the rate of depreciation of the cedi.

• Under our watch, Ghana has become the top destination for foreign direct
investment in West Africa.

• We successfully exited the IMF program that we inherited from the NDC

• We have improved Ghana’s sovereign credit ratings with the first ratings
upgrade in more than a decade

• We have doubled the capitation grant

• We have expanded the school feeding program

• We have expanded LEAP

• We have established the Nation Builders Corps and recruited 100,000
graduates.

• We have recruited over 350,000 people into the public service.

• We have purchased 567 vehicles, three helicopters for the police

• We have launched an emergency 112 number for the police, fire and
ambulance services

• We have implemented a new basic curriculum from kindergarten to primary six
with a focus on reading, writing, arithmetic and creativity (the 4Rs).

• We have redefined basic education to include senior high school and technical
schools.

• We are absorbing the cost of WASSCE registration fees for students.

• We have restored teacher training allowances

• We have introduced new reforms to allow Teacher trainees to now be awarded
degrees rather than diplomas after graduation

• We have restored nursing training allowances

• We have introduced drones to deliver medical supplies

• We have procured ambulances for all 275 constituencies

• We have cleared the NHIS arrears that we inherited and have revived the
collapsing NHIS.

• We have paid the outstanding contributions to pension funds that we inherited

• We are constructing 10 youth resource centres across ten regions.

• We have established 75 Greenhouses at Dawhenya to enhance vegetable
production. This is the largest in West Africa.

• Through our Private-Public Partnership with NOVARTIS, Government is
offering the drug hydroxyurea to relieve the pain and suffering of sickle cell
patients in Ghana. This is the first such initiative in Africa.

• We have increased the DACF to persons with disabilities by 50%

• We have employed persons with disabilities to man 50% of all our toll booths.

• We have established the first government adult shelter to support victims of
human trafficking. There is one for victims of domestic abuse but this is the first
ever shelter dedicated to victims of human trafficking.

• We have connected 400 rural communities to the telephone network in the last
3 years.

• We have increased Peacekeeping allowances from $31 to $35 per day

• We have established and implemented the National Entrepreneurship and
Innovation Program (NEIP) with over 10,000 beneficiaries.

• We have established the Students Entrepreneurship Initiative (SEI) to inculcate
the spirit of entrepreneurship in students from the high school level.

• We have established the Zongo Development Fund and we are providing
infrastructure to Zongo communities.

• We have brought transparency into the allocation of oil blocs

• We have established and funded the Office of the Special Prosecutor

• We have passed the Right to Information Act

• We have created 6 new regions

• Ghana has been selected to host the secretariat of the African Continental Free
Trade Agreement

• We have established three Development Authorities (Northern, Middle Belt and
Coastal) which have started implementing the Infrastructure for Poverty
Eradication Program (IPEP).

• Construction of 80 thousand-metric ton warehouses under the “One District One
Warehouse Initiative.”

• Construction so far of 300 out of 560 small earth dams in the five northern
regions, in fulfilment of the “One Village One Dam” promise.

• We are implementing the one district one factory policy

• We have waged a war against illegal mining to protect our water bodies and
have now introduced a community-based mining regime for small scale miners.

• We are implementing the National ID Card

• We have implemented the Digital Address System

• We have implemented mobile money interoperability

• We have made it possible for anyone with a mobile money account to have
basic banking services

• We are digitizing the land registry

• We have introduced digital drivers’ licences

• We have introduced online applications for passports

• We have introduced online renewal of NHIS registrations through the mobile
phone.

• We have launched an online platform (iTAPs) for the filing of taxes.

• Our hospital processes are also being automated for efficiency.

• We have implemented online business registration at the Registrar Generals
Department;

• We have implemented an e-justice program at the courts

• We have implemented e-procurement at the Public Procurement Authority

• We have implemented paperless ports

• We have established a Ghana Commodities Exchange

• We are on course to establish an integrated Bauxite and Aluminium Industry

• We are on course to establish a vibrant domestic automotive industry

• We have completed preparations to commence the construction of the Pwalugu
Dam by the end of November this year for irrigation, flood control and electricity.

• The Accra-Tema Railway line is now in operation and the Kojokrom-Tarkwa
and Achimota-Nsawam lines have also been rehabilitated.

• We launched the “Year of Return” to mark the 400th anniversary of the first
slaves taken from Africa to the Americas. It has resulted in increased tourism.

• We are constructing a Dry Bulk Jetty as well as a multipurpose container
terminal at Takoradi Port

• We are starting the construction of 10 fish landing sites at Teshie, Axim,
Dixcove, Elmina, Winneba, Mumford, Senya-Breku, Fetteh-Gomah, Moree,
and Keta.

• We have completed the reverse flow project to move gas from the West to the
East of Ghana.

• The construction of Tamale Airport Phase 2 has started

• Tamale Interchange is being constructed

• Pokuase Interchange is being constructed

• Tema Motorway Interchange is being constructed

• Obetsebi Lamptey Interchange is being constructed

• We have commenced airline operations to Wa

• We have revived Anglo-gold Ashanti, and put more people to work;

• We have commenced the journey to build a National Cathedral;

• We have established the Social Partnership Framework with Employers and
Labour as well as FBOs

• We have launched a comprehensive building Code for Ghana for the first time,
and last but not least,

• Mr. Speaker, we have implemented Free Senior High school education for all
Ghanaians.