Former Finance Minister Seth Terkper has asked the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to focus on reducing spending.

He said the government must generate revenue in order to control the deficit of 15 per cent.

“The solution as the fund proposes is in the expenditure. That is why they don’t talk about revenue only, they speak about fiscal consolidation and fiscal consolidation means that you are not just going to look at your revenue, you are also going to look at your expenditure.

“The difference between revenue and expenditure which is the deficit, which is high, it is about 15 per cent now.

“Once you have a deficit it means that you are not really generating enough revenue,” Mr Terkper told TV3 in an interview.

The government did not introduce new taxes in the 2021 mid-year budget statement.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has told Parliament during the delivery of the mid-year budget statement on Thursday July 29 that he did not come to ask for more money from the House.

He also said he did not come for more taxes rather, he came to update the House and the country on the performance of the economy during the first half of the year.

“I have not come here today to ask for more money, I have not come to ask for more taxes, I have come to update the house on the performance of the economy for the first half of the year,” he said amidst claps from members of Parliament.

He further stated that the Akufo-Addo administration took bold and decisive measures to deal with the negative impact of the covid on the economy.