Mr Speaker, I beg
to move, that the Supplementary Appro-
priation Bill, 2021 be now read a Second
time.
Mr Speaker, the purpose of the Bill is
to provide for the withdrawal of sums of moneys from the Consolidated Fund for supplementary appropriation to meet Government's expenditure for the financial year ending on 31st December, 2020 in accordance with clauses (8) and (9) of article 179 of the 1992 Constitution.
Mr Speaker, whilst implementing the
annual budget of 2020 which was approved by Parliament in December 2019, to
improve the lives of Ghanaians, the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic struck. The pandemic spread with alarming speed and affected millions of people around the world and brought global economic activities to a virtual halt. Mr Speaker, Ghana was not spared either with the effects of the pandemic and its impact as the pandemic had largely been felt in people's livelihoods, businesses and it posed serious fiscal risks on planned programmes and activities of Government. It restricted movements, disrupted households and slowed down industry production with its resultant job losses and reduced household income.
Mr Speaker, COVID-19 effects led to disruptions in the global supply chain, extensive supply shortages, and attendant increases in prices and reduction in domestic revenues among others.
To ensure that the Ghanaian economy is stabilised, revitalised and transformed to protect lives and livelihood, and also address the socio-economic disruption occasioned by the pandemic, it has become necessary for Parliament to approve a supplementary appropriation of GH₵11,896,477,566 to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund with some specific expenditures.
Mr Speaker, I so move.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr
Kwaku Kwarteng): Mr Speaker, I beg to
support the Motion and in so doing, I
present your Committee's Report.
Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2021 — 2nd Reading
1.0 Introduction
The Supplementary Appropriation
Bill, 2021 was presented and read the first
time in the House on 15 December, 2021
by the Hon Deputy Minister for Finance,
Mrs Abena Osei-Asare, on behalf of the
Minister responsible for Finance. The Bill
was subsequently referred to the Finance
Committee for consideration and report in
accordance with article 179(8) and (9) of
the 1992 Constitution and the Standing
Orders of the House.
The Committee met on 3th February,
2022 and considered the Bill with Deputy
Ministers for Finance, Hon (Mrs) Abena
Osei-Asare and Hon (Dr) John Ampontuah
Kumah, the Chief Director and a team of
officials from the Ministry of Finance and
the Attorney General's Department. The
Committee is grateful to them for attending
upon the Committee.
2.0 References
The Committee referred to and was
guided by the following documents inter
alia during its deliberations on the Bill:
• The 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana;
• The Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana;
• Interpretation Act, 2009 (Act 792);
• The Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana
for the 2020 Financial Year; and
• The Mid-Year Review and Supplementary Budget for the 2020
Financial Year.
3.0 Background Information
The Parliament of Ghana duly
approved the 2020 Budget in December,
2019 for implementation in the year 2020.
Whilst implementing the 2020 annual
budget to improve the lives of Ghanaians,
the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic struck. The pandemic spread
with alarming speed, affecting millions of
people around the world and bringing
global economic activities to a virtual
standstill.
Ghana was not spared the effects of
the pandemic as its impact has largely been
felt in the people's livelihood, businesses
and posed serious fiscal risks on planned
programmes and activities of Government.
It also restricted movements, disrupted
households and slowed down industry
production with its resultant job losses and
reduced household incomes.
In addition, COVID-19 effects led to
disruptions in the global supply chain,
extensive supply shortages, and attendant
increase in prices and reduction in
domestic revenues among others.
To ensure that the Ghanaian economy
is stabilised, revitalised and transformed to
protect lives and livelihoods, and also to
address the socio-economic disruptions
occasioned by the pandemic, it became
necessary and Parliament approved a
Supplementary Estimate of eleven billion,
eight hundred and ninety-six million, four
hundred and seventy-seven thousand, five
hundred and sixty-six Ghana cedis
(GH¢11,896,477,566.00) to be paid out of
the Consolidated Fund with some specific
expenditure.
In accordance with clause 9 of article
179 of the 1992 Constitution, the instant
Bill was presented in the year 2021 to
provide for the appropriation of the
approved Supplementary Estimates.
4.0 Object of the Bill
The object of the Bill is to provide for
the withdrawal of sums of money from the
Consolidated Fund for supplementary
appropriation to meet Government
expenditure for the financial year ending
on the 31st Day of December, 2020.
The specific purposes for which the
sums are appropriated have been specified
in the schedules to the Bill, all of them
geared towards providing additional
funding for efficiently carrying out the
services of the Government for the 2020
Financial Year.
5.0. Observations
5.1. Approval of Supplementary Estimates
The Committee observed that
Parliament on the 30th day of July, 2020, approved Supplementary Estimates in the sum of eleven billion, eight hundred and ninety-six million, four hundred and seventy-seven thousand, five hundred and sixty-six Ghana cedis (GH¢11,896,477,566.00) for the purposes of providing additional financing to carry out government operations for the 2020 financial year.
5.2. Constitutional Requirement
The Committee noted the provisions
of clause 8 of article 179 of the 1992 Constitution which stipulates that
"Where, in respect of a financial year, it is found that the amount of moneys appropriated by the Appropriation Act for any purpose is insufficient or that a need has arisen for expenditure for a purpose for which no sum of moneys has been appropriated by that Act, a supplementary estimate showing the sum of money required, shall be laid before Parliament for its approval"
It is further provided in clause 9 of the
same article that
"Where, in the case of a financial year,
a supplementary estimate has been approved by Parliament in accor- dance with clause (8) of this article, a supplementary Appropriation Bill shall be introduced into Parliament
in the financial year next following the financial year to which the estimates relates, providing for the appropriation of the sum so approved for the purposes specified in that estimate.”
The Committee observed that the
introduction of the Bill in the year 2021 to
provide for the appropriation of the sum
approved as supplementary estimate in
2020 is indeed pursuant to the above
provisions of the Constitution.
5.3. Effective period
The Committee noted that the Bill
when passed shall be deemed to have come
into effect on the 30th day of July, 2020.
6.0. Amendment Proposed
i. Short Title - Amendment Proposed - At Beginning, delete
"2020".
7.0. Recommendation and Conclusion
The Committee recommends that the
sum of money not exceeding eleven billion,
eight hundred and ninety-six million, four
hundred and seventy-seven thousand, five
hundred and sixty-six Ghana cedis
(GH¢11,896,477,566.00) as approved by
the House on the 30 day of July, 2020 be
authorised to be issued from the Consoli-
dated Fund for the purposes of providing
additional financing for Government
operations for the 2020 Financial Year.
Pursuant to the foregoing, the
Committee recommends to the House to
pass the Supplementary Appropriation
Bill, 2021 into law, subject to the
amendment proposed.
Respectfully Submitted.
Question proposed.
Mr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson (NDC
— Ajumako/Enyan/Essiam): Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me the
opportunity to also contribute to the
Motion that was moved by the Deputy
Minister for Finance.
Mr Speaker, yes, the Supple-mentary
Appropriation relates to the year 2020.
Constitutionally, it stands adjourned and
we are expected to consider this in the
following year.
Mr Speaker, we are in the second year
so clearly, we are breaching the Consti-
tution for not approving the Supplementary
Appropriations Bill for the year 2020.
Mr Speaker, my concern relates to the
fact that for the year concerned, 2020, we
all agree that there was COVID-19. The
quantum of amount that this Government
decided to appropriate was a bit too much.
I say this because Ghana became an outlier
compared to our neighbours as a result of
this very supplementary appropriations
that we are being called upon to approve.
Mr Speaker, an amount of GH₵8.9 billion was allocated for the purposes of the
additional expenditure for the year. As a
result of that, the fiscal deficit became 15
per cent approximately for the year 2020.
Our debt stock rose and it is part of the
reason we are here today with economic
difficulties.
Mr Speaker, even apart from the
GH₵11.8 billion, the Ministry of Finance went ahead and spent additional GH₵1 billion approximately in excess of the
GH₵11.8 billion that we allocated.
Mr Speaker, as for that one, at the right
time, we would revisit it. But let me say
that in as much as we all believe that this is
just a matter that we should all approve,
there are major concerns. The concern is
that an amount of GH₵11.8 billion being additional expenditure for one year apart
from the amount of GH₵44 billion we had already allocated for the year concerned
was a bit too much. That is why today, our
public debt has risen to a level that we call
a debt overhang.
Mr Speaker, going forward, we should
learn from this and not hide behind the
pandemic to overspend because in the end,
it would catch up with us.
Mr Speaker, I would wait, when we
get to the clauses, and I have any further
comments, I would make it. But at this
point, I think that it is something that we
should all accept and let it go.
