The Government has unveiled a series of initiatives in the 2025 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, aimed at resetting the economy, creating jobs, and ensuring prosperity for Ghanaians across various sectors.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the finance minister, presented the Government’s first budget to the Ninth Parliament on Tuesday.
Key among the reliefs captured in the Budget was the abolition of some taxes that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had described as “regressive” and had assured they would scrap.
The taxes to be abolished, as announced by Dr. Forson, include the COVID-19 Levy, the 10 percent tax on bet winnings, the 1 percent E-Levy, the Emission Levy, VAT on motor vehicle insurance policy, and the 1.5 percent withholding tax on the winnings of unprocessed gold by small-scale miners.
The Government has also announced the allocation of GH¢100 million for the payment of allowances to Assembly Members.
The Government also intends to commence the implementation of one of its flagship programmes, dubbed the “Big Push” policy, for strategic infrastructural development and to drive sustainable economic growth under the 24-Hour Economic Policy.
Dr. Forson stated that an amount of GH¢13.85 billion had been allocated for the implementation of the Big Push Programme.
In fulfilment of the Government’s promise to equip the youth with employable skills, the finance minister said that an amount of GH¢300 million had been allocated to the National Apprenticeship Programme, GH¢100 million to the ‘Adwumawura’ Programme, and GH¢100 million for the National Coders Programme.
Under education, the Government announced a dedicated source of funding for the Free Senior High School Programme and the provision of free tertiary education for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) by uncapping the GETFund.
The Government also announced the allocation of GH¢499.8 million for the No-Academic-Fee policy for all first-year students in public tertiary institutions under the ‘No-Fees-Stress’ initiative.
Among the social intervention promises captured in the budget was the allocation of GH¢292.4 million to commence the distribution of free sanitary pads to female students in primary and secondary schools.
The Government also announced an allocation of GH¢242.5 million to support victims of the Akosombo dam spillage, as well as an amount of GH¢200 million to support the victims of the tidal wave disaster that recently displaced residents of Agavedzi and surrounding communities in the Ketu South constituency.
Other social intervention initiatives include an increase in the budgetary allocation to the School Feeding Programme from GH¢1.344 billion to GH¢1.788 billion to reflect an increase in the feeding cost per meal per child per day from GH¢1.50 to GH¢2.00.
The Government announced the allocation of GH¢203 million for the payment of Teacher Trainee allowances and another GH¢480 million for Nursing Trainee allowances.
By Edward Acquah, GNA.
