PIAC commends increase in oil cash invested in agriculture

The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has commended government for increasing the amount of oil revenue invested in the agricultural sector last year.

In 2018, more than GH¢251 million was invested in the agricultural sector which represents more than 61 percent increase in the allocation made to the sector in 2017 when government invested GH¢156 million.

PIAC in a statement issued on its analysis of the 2018 Semi-Annual Report said while it encourages the increase in allocation to agriculture, attention must be paid to activities that support production.

The Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) Act 815 provided for revenue from oil to be invested in four areas under the Annual Budget Funding Amount.

An amount of GH¢1.55 billion was programmed ABFA allocation for 2018. This represents a 94.19 percent increase over the programmed ABFA allocation for 2017 (GH¢796.32 million).

Out of the budgeted GH¢1.55 billion, GH¢463.91 million (representing 30 percent) was for Goods and Services, whilst GH¢1.08 billion (representing 70 percent) was to be utilised under Capital Expenditure.

These programmed allocations to Goods and Services, and Capital Expenditure, both represent a 94.19 percent increase over their respective allocations in 2017.

An amount of GH¢465.91 million, accounting for 30.23 percent of total allocation, and representing a 120.06 percent increase over the respective allocation in 2017 (GH¢211.72 million), was to be utilised on Physical Infrastructure and Service Delivery in Education.

An amount of GH¢50 million, accounting for 3.24 percent of total allocation, was to be utilised on Physical Infrastructure and Service Delivery in Health.

The same amount was programmed for this priority area in 2017. The remaining amount of GH¢774 million, accounting for 50.05 percent of total budgeted allocation to ABFA, was programmed for the Road, Rail and Other Critical Infrastructure area in 2018.

This represents a 105.51 percent increase over the respective allocation in 2017 (GH¢376.62 million). Besides the allocation to the priority areas, an amount of GH¢5 million, representing 0.32 percent of total allocation to ABFA, was programmed for the purchase of an office building and implementation of the activities of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) for the year.

The allocation to PIAC represents a 163.16 percent increase over the programmed allocation in 2017 (GH¢1.90 million).