by Nurat Uthman
Ghana’s parliament is unlikely to pass a provisional budget before the Dec. 7 general election, former officials and experts say, which risks triggering an unprecedented government shutdown early next year.
The West African nation is set to elect a successor to President Nana Akufo-Addo whose two-term mandate ends in January. Typically, a provisional budget is passed in November during election years to cover the gap until the president-elect takes office.
“We risk a government shutdown or at best, lean government spending from January,” Seth Terkper, former finance minister from 2013-17, said in an interview.
The government might have to cut back on interest payments and funding for the transition, he added, unless a budget is passed in December.
The failure to pass a budget would be a first in over 30 years for Ghana, the world’s number two cocoa producer.
Ghana’s parliament has been on an indefinite break since Oct. 23 over an impasse on which of the two main parties has majority of seats.
The Supreme Court ruled on Nov. 12 that Parliament Speaker Alban Bagbin’s declaration was unconstitutional.
Bagbin has since refused requests to recall parliament, saying it would interrupt the election campaign.
“There is nothing like this before,” Patrick Yaw Boamah, chairman of parliament’s finance committee told Reuters.
The Finance Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment. Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam had set a Nov. 15 deadline for presenting the provisional budget.
Parliament now has a few weeks to pass the provisional budget to avert cuts and a potential shutdown.
Ghana’s labour unions have been hoping for parliament to work on a solution before it impacts workers.
“It’s a big problem … We hope they resolve it before January so it doesn’t affect salaries,” Joshua Ansah, head of Trades Union Congress, told Reuters.
