The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his cabinet will later on Thursday, May 7, 2020, begin a 3-day retreat to review data gathered on the effects of COVID-19 on all sectors of the Ghanaian economy.
The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who made this known said the government now has more concrete data on the impact of COVID-19 on the various sectors including education and health.
“President Akufo-Addo and his cabinet over the next three days will commence a process of examining data so far gathered on the impact of COVID-19 across all sectors in Ghana,” he said at a press conference on Thursday, May 7, 2020.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said all Ministers have been directed to present reports about the impact of COVID-19 on their respective sectors and make recommendations on how the sectors can recover.
He said the information from the retreat will help to put together the 2020 mid-year budget review.
“The President has instructed all ministers to present reports on their sectors and proffer recommendations for recovery at a cabinet retreat starting today [Thursday] and will go on for the next three days…The Government of Ghana will examine the observed impact, the recommendations that are being made, the implications and will enhance preparations for laying same before Parliament during the mid-year review,” he said.
Government revenue projection has been badly hit already, with the COVID-19 impact expected to cost Ghana some GHS9.5 billion according to the Finance Minister.
Government has already offered some temporary relief to Ghanaians in the delivery of water and electricity services, as well as some tax incentives to frontline health workers and other groups.
It has received approval from Parliament to spend some GHS1.2 billion cedis from the Contingency Fund to support Ghanaians and revive the economy, alongside a $1 billion credit facility from the International Monetary Fund to fight the pandemic and revive the economy.
It has also allocated a loan amount of GHS600 million to support struggling Small and Medium Scale enterprises.
