The General Secretary for Agricultural Workers Union, Edward Karewe, has said that the 2033 budget presentation would be a budget influenced by the International Monetary Fund(IMF).
According to the General Secretary who spoke to Samuel Eshun on the Happy98.8FM Morning show , there are some pending conditionalities that would maneuver its way into the budget.
“It is an unsealed budget , the government has not been able to complete the deal with the IMF because certain things have not been done and we have been hearing that the IMF this time would say, you go and prepare your own grown policies and come then we would endorse” he stated.
He believes it is unusual of the IMF to ask a government to prepare their own policies for endorsement .
“Even though Ghana would go ahead to prepare their own grown policies and they would endorse , it is not like that, they would tell you if you doing this type of own grown policies we would not give it to you, so the conditions we would always see them” he noted “
Mr. Karewe reiterated the need for the government to conclude all negotiations on going with the IMF before the budget reading.
“So all those things has to be done before we get the deal , so if we had a deal with IMF , the budget would have reflected all that we have had with the IMF , but now that the deal is not yet over and we already know what IMF is expecting us to do before we get the deal” he mentioned.
When asked of his expectations about agriculture featuring prominently in terms of government’s allocation of funds towards agriculture , he revealed that their expectation over the years concerning government’s support to the agricultural sector has been in vain.
“No I don’t , what I expect is not what they would bring because our expectations in the past have not received a support of government “ he said .
The Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta is expected to present the 2023 budget on Thursday November 24, 2022.
