Senior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Osafo-Maafo is calling for the amendment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2018 (Act 982), to include specific sanctions for government officials who do not adhere to the rules.

This, he maintains, will ensure proper enforcement.

Parliament passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2018 (Act 982), as part of efforts to restore fiscal discipline in public finances by setting a limit that prevents excessive spending.

Mr. Osafo-Marfo made the call at a stakeholder conference on the Fourth National Action Plan for Open Government Partnerships.

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act simply states that government will not spend a certain percentage beyond our GDP, therefore the Ministry of Finance is bound by law not to go beyond 5% of our GDP. If the Minister of Finance goes beyond the five percent of GDP, what happens to him? There’s no law or specific sanction stipulated to reprimand him.”

The statesman added that there was an exception to the rule and referred to the COVID-19 period in 2020 when the Finance Minister suspended the Fiscal Responsibility Act to enable government to spend beyond the five percent ceiling.

“In certain instances, you have to go beyond the percentage, for example, if there is a force majeure. If you recall, the Minister of Finance went to Parliament to set aside the Fiscal Responsibility Act so the government could exceed five percent of our GDP to accommodate COVID-19 challenges because he wanted to be a law-abiding citizen.”