Minister of Finance Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam was expected to present a mini-budget on December 20
The 2025 budget was not presented for approval due to the impasse in the Parliament of Ghana.
For the first time in the history of the country’s 4th Republic, the budget for the ensuing year has not been passed.
The Minister for Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, was expected to present a mini-budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which the house would pass to cover the expenditure of the public sector for three months — January, February, and March 2025 – but this did not happen.
What was the reason for the finance minister not showing up? A $350 million tax waiver.
Reports indicated that the failure of the minister to present the mini-budget, which would ensure a smooth running of the next government, has to do with a tussle over the approval of tax waivers worth about $350 million being sought by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.
The government and New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs) wanted the tax waivers approved, but National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs are totally opposed to its approval, stating that it is not in the interest of the country.
The government set the approval of the tax waivers as a precondition for the presentation of the mini-budget, but the NDC MPs did not budge.
Even after threats of prosecution by Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the finance minister did not show up on Friday, December 20, 2024, before the House was adjourned to January 2, 2025.
Law Professor and Dean of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Law School, Prof. E. Kofi Abotsi, has asked why the government is bent on getting the tax waivers approved.
In a post shared on X on Sunday, December 22, 2024, Prof. Abotsi wondered why the approval of the tax waivers would be an impediment to the work of Parliament.
“What is the strategic importance of tax waivers for companies that it should dominate gov’t biz & stall Parliament in the dying embers of an administration?
“For a country sinking in debt with interest payments soon to restart, this is puzzling & leaves questions hanging!” he wrote on X.
The $350 million tax waivers being sought by the government fall under the 1D1F programme and are sought for 42 entities, including Santuo Oil Refinery, which is expected to receive $164.6 million worth of waivers.
The other beneficiaries include B5 Plus Limited, Ferro Fabrik Limited, Everpure Holdings Limited, and Miro Forestry Ghana Limited.
See a full list of the 42 companies below:
BAI/OGB
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