An 11-member Fiscal Risk Sub-Committee of the Economic Policy Coordinating Committee to direct issues involving the fiscal risk management which has been inaugurated with a call to help bring sanity to Ghana’s fiscal management in Accra last week.
On behalf of the Minister for Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, the Coordinating Director at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Michael Ayesu detailed that the committee was constituted pursuant to Regulation 9 of the Public Financial Management Regulations this year.
According to the Minister for Finance, the realization of fiscal risks could affect the achievement of key fiscal targets, reduce the accuracy of fiscal forecasts, weaken the credibility of the budget and consequently, contribute to macroeconomic instability, hence the need to tackle it from all fronts.
In addition, the Minister of Finance stated that the Fiscal Risks Unit (FRU) was subsequently established within the Ministry of Finance with the responsibility of coordinating fiscal risks management including identifying, analyzing, disclosing and proposing measures to manage fiscal risks.
“You may recall that the realization of fiscal partly accounted for the derailment of the IMF supported Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Programme, originally scheduled to be completed in April 2018 and subsequently extended to April 3, 2019”, he revealed. He also cited the fiscal cost of over GHc11 billion government had to spend to clean-up the banking sector as clear examples of fiscal risks.
Membership of the sub-committee include Hon. Kwaku Kwarteng, Deputy Minister for Finance as the Chairperson; Dr. Maxwell Opoku Afari, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana; Mr. Patrick Nomo, Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance; Hon. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, Director-General, State Interests and Governance Authority; and Mr. Wisdom Messan, Deputy Controller and Accountant General.
Others members from the Ministry of Finance are Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, Director, Economic Strategy and Research Division; Mrs. Evelyn Authur, Director of Budget; Mr. Samuel Arkhurst, Director, Treasury and Debt Management Division; Mrs. Mangowa Ghanney, Director, Legal Division; Mr. David Collison, Director Public Investment and Asset Division; Mr. Hayford Amoh, Director, Internal Audit; and Dr. Mawuli Gaddah, Head, Fiscal Fisk Unit as Secretary.
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