Government must cut down on expenditure rather than dip hands in Heritage Fund - John Dumelo

Actor turned politician, John Dumelo has said government should cut down on its expenditure rather than using the Heritage fund in combating the coronavirus pandemic.

According to him, although the situation demands that government must come up with funds to fight the pandemic, the Heritage fund is meant for the future generation and should not be an option.

This comes as a reply to the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta’s call for the amendment of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) in order to allow government to utilize part of the Heritage Fund to fight the pandemic.

On Monday in parliament, the finance minister noted, “Amend the PRMA to allow a withdrawal from the Ghana Heritage Fund to undertake emergency expenditures in periods of national emergency. There is an estimated US$591.1 million in the Ghana Heritage Fund.”

“Mr. Speaker… Since we are faced with extraordinary circumstances which require extraordinary measures, we would like to propose the following measures for the consideration and support of the House – Lower the cap on the Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF) from the current US$300 million to US$100 million in accordance with Section 23 (3) of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA).”

“This measure will enable the excess amount in the GSF account over the US$100 million cap to be transferred into the Contingency Fund, consistent with Section 23 (4) of the PRMA. The amount transferred into the Contingency Fund will be used to fund the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP). Through this process, an estimated GHȼ1,250 million will be transferred into the Contingency Fund to Fund the CAP. Mr. Speaker, we therefore wish to seek approval from this August House for the Finance Minister to use the Funds which will be available in the Contingency Fund to fund the Coronavirus Alleviation Programm,” he said.

Taking to Twitter, John Dumelo stated, “It’s obvious the gov needs to raise money to fight the COVID-19 crises but the first thing they must do is to maintain fiscal discipline by cutting down on its expenditure rather than trying to dip its hands in the Heritage fund meant for the next generation.”

Its obvious the gov needs to raise money to fight the COVID-19 crises but the first thing they must do is to maintain fiscal discipline by cutting down on its expenditure rather than trying to dip its hands in the Heritage fund meant for the next generation. #idey4u

— Farmer John (@johndumelo) March 30, 2020