The government of Ghana has estimated to spend approximately GH¢85.9 billion ($16 billion), representing 21.6 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in the 2020 fiscal year.

The key drivers of the projected expenditure include the wage bill, which is projected at GH¢22.9 billion, interest payments of GH¢21.7 billion, goods and services for government operation at GH¢8.3 billion and capital expenditure of GH¢9.3 billion.

Other areas are the one-off financing of the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections, funding of government flagship programmes and security.

The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, gave the breakdown on Wednesday when he laid before Parliament the 2020 Budget and Economic Statement of the government.

Part of the expenditure will be directed at building infrastructure for the six newly created regions in the areas of administration blocks, educational and health infrastructure.

The 2020 expenditure estimates represent a 21.2 per cent increase over what the government projects will be spent by the end of this year.

No taxes in 2020

Meanwhile, the finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta has promised there will be no new taxes in 2020.

“We will take radical policy and institutional reforms towards raising our tax-to-GDP ratio over the medium term from under 13 percent currently to around 20 percent. The focus will be on efficiency and base-broadening rather than imposing new taxes on our people and businesses. This way, we can raise our domestic contribution to our ambitious transformation agenda, in line with the Ghana Beyond Aid vision,” he said.