Grant disbursement lower than budget target – Terkper
Mr Seth Terkper, Minister of Finance on Wednesday said grant disbursement from development partners was 44.7 per cent lower than the budget target and 47.0 per cent lower than the outturn recorded during 2012.
He said the lower than expected outturn was due to the non-disbursement of budget support from the Multi Donor Budget Support partners – a trend that is continuing from 2012.
Mr Terkper who announced this at the Meet-The-Press series organised in Accra to highlight the performance of the economy and preparation for 2014 budget, expressed the hope that the donor partners would disburse the grant early enough so that the country would not end the year worst off.
He said the total revenue and grants for January to August, was about GH¢11,902.8 million representing 13.4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), against a target of GH¢14,175.0 million, which is about 16.0 per cent of GDP.
He noted that in nominal terms, the provision outturn was 13.1 per cent higher than the outturn for the same period in 2012.
Mr Terkper attributed the shortfall in total revenue and grants to low disbursement of grants from development partners and also partly due to lower than anticipated domestic revenue collection by the Ghana Revenue Authority.
He said during the period under review, total tax revenue amounted to GH¢8,887.6 million, 14.5 per cent lower than the budget target of GH¢10,391.3 million.
“In nominal terms tax revenue was 13.1 per cent higher than the outturn recorded for the same period in 2012,” he added.
The under performance of tax revenue, he said, stemmed from low performance of almost all the tax types except petroleum revenue, reflecting lower imports, the slowdown in economic activities during the first and second quarters of the year resulting partly from the energy crisis and the decline in commodity prices on the world market.
Mr Terkper said although the performance of domestic revenue from the traditional sources had been weak, oil revenue performance for the period under review had been very strong as a result of higher than expected crude oil price, higher production levels and corporate income taxes from the sector.
He announced that total oil revenue from January to August, amounted to GH¢1,150.4 million as against a target of GH¢788.1 million.
Mr Terkper said, total expenditure including payments for the clearance of arrears and outstanding commitments for January to August, amounted to GH¢18,345.0 million, equivalent to 20.7 per cent of the GDP, against a target of GH¢20,051.5 million equivalent to 22.6 per cent of GDP.
He noted the outturn was 8.5 per cent lower than the budget target and 18.4 per cent higher than the outturn for the same period in 2012.
Mr Terkper attributed the growth in expenditure mainly to the increase in interest costs and the growth in compensation of employees during the period.
Source: GNA