NMW delaying budget presentation as Ghanaian lawmakers begin consideration
Following early presentation of the 2019 national budget by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, on Thursday last week, the Ghanaian Parliament has swung into legislative action of considering the document.
This is as sources confided in Business Hilights Thursday that the observed delays in presenting Nigeria’s 2019 budget document by the executive is linked to the unsettled scenario bordering the ongoing back and forth power play in the confirmation of N30,000 New Minimum Wage (NMW).
A source who pleaded not to be named revealed that “There is no way government will go to the National Assembly and present the ready appropriation bill when you know that should labour’s figure of N30,000 be finally adopted as contained in the Tripartite Committee Report submitted to the president, it means that a lot of figures already approved by the executive in the budget document must be altered to avoid implementation confusion”.
“The way I see things, it may take good time before 2019 budget will be presented to the lawmakers as far as issues on NMW last.
The official observed that if Labour had started the agitation earlier, we would have gotten a national figure before even beginning to package the 2019 budget.
Though the source failed to explain why government did not do the needful before the organized labour began the struggle, he expressed fears that the delays may last longer than expected as far as 2019 appropriation bill is concerned.
However, at the Ghanaian parliament, Business Hilights Ghana Bureau chief reports that there was heated argument between the Majority and Minority as the 2019 budget statement and economic policy for the 2019 financial year become uppermost in the legislative business of the lawmakers.
It is on record that for several years, Ghanaian national budget has never missed the target time of implementation from January 1, thus meaning that the document will be ready for presidential accent on or before December 31, 2018.
