Ghana’s parliament approves provisional budget to avoid government shutdown

Ghana’s parliament has passed a provisional budget of 68.1 billion Ghanaian cedis ($4.65 billion) to fund government operations through March, averting an unprecedented shutdown. Parliamentary Speaker Alban Bagbin announced the approval after a late-night session on Thursday.

The budget ensures continuity in government spending as John Dramani Mahama prepares to assume office as Ghana’s president next week following his victory in the December 7 election. Mahama’s win marks a political comeback after his previous tenure as president from 2012 to 2016.

Outgoing President Nana Akufo-Addo was due to present his last state-of-the-nation address later on Friday, after eight years leading the gold—and oil-exporting nation.

A provisional budget is typically passed in November during election years to cover the gap until the president-elect takes office.

More from World

Earthquake of magnitude 5.9 jolts Assam, tremors felt in Bhutan and north Bengal 5 US F-35 jets land in Puerto Rico amid tensions with Venezuela

But the presentation of the provisional budget had dragged this time after an impasse over whether the outgoing New Patriotic Party (NPP) or the incoming National Democratic Congress (NDC) party has a majority of seats in the House.

Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam told the joint business and finance committees the late passage of the provisional budget would not affect government business.

”It averts a government shutdown and (the) likelihood of worsening Ghana’s ongoing debt default saga,” Seth Terkper, a former finance minister, told Reuters.

Almost a third of the approved amount is earmarked for payments to energy-sector service providers, according to the provisional budget.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

Mahama, the president-elect, said last month that Ghana was going to face a critical situation in the energy sector, adding that preliminary estimates showed that arrears exceeded $2.5 billion at a time when the power supply was erratic.

Mahama, who contested the election as the main opposition leader, is returning to power amid an economic resurgence from Ghana’s worst crisis in a generation.

With inputs from agencies.