Uncertainty in parliament could dampen investor confidence – Prof. Mensah warns
Economist Professor Lord Mensah is worried developments in parliament could heighten investor uncertainty about the direction of the economy.
According to him, there are crucial fiscal policies that must be examined by parliament and passed on time, but could be delayed by the disagreement between the two major parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on who has the majority in the House.
This, he warned could send bad signals to investors and businesses seeking to operate in Ghana.
“Parliament plays a major role when it comes to approvals of expenditure lines and our approvals of some revenue line. So if it turns out that as a result of this power shift things are not beings settled, of course the investor community are going to see it to be more or less a bad signal”, he cautioned.
Prof. Mensah stated that investors do not like political uncertainties that do not give a clear view of the future.
He pointed out for example that time is a very important component when making an investment decision, hence further delays in passing fiscal laws and policies will derail the confidence of investors.
“At the end of the day it will impede their decisions as to whether to settle on Ghana or move elsewhere. Under a democratic dispensation, everything has to do with timelines and we are moving into November. We have to start concluding on our budget lines for next year”, he said.
Citing the November budget a critical instance, Prof. Mensah said delays in presenting the budget will not auger well for the next government.
“So if this derails, at the end of the day, it may affect committee composition here and there. It may affect our budget lines next year and from then on, the uncertainty continues I will say.”
Speaker adjourns sitting indefinitely
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin on Tuesday October 22, 2024 adjourned sitting in the House amid vacant seats controversy.
The decision was made in a House filled with NDC legislators who had occupied the Majority side of the aisle.
The NPP Members of Parliament had walked out earlier due to a controversy with the opposition, who had taken over their seats after claiming to constitute the majority.
During the brief proceedings, the Speaker agreed with Francis-Xavier Sosu that the record should be corrected to reflect that, on Thursday, when the NPP group walked out, they were the Minority.
Leading the NPP MPs out of the chamber earlier, MP for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin said they were retreating to their offices to await directives from the Speaker, Alban Sumana Bagbin, on the way forward.
According to Afenyo-Markin, they chose the path of peace rather than confronting their opponents to avoid chaos, insisting that Ghana is a peaceful country that should be maintained as such.