Contingency Fund is presently at GHC 200 million, according to the Finance Minister.

According to Ken Ofori Atta, minister of finance, there is now a credit balance of roughly GH200 million in the Contingency Fund, which is where money appropriated by Parliament must be paid and used.

The sum comes from the total of GH1.33 billion that Parliament approved for the Fund between 2017 and 2022.

He said that this includes the GH1,203,715,086, GH50,000,000, and GH76,489,307 votes cast in the elections of 2020, 2018, and 2017, respectively.

In order to cover COVID-19-related expenses in 2020, GH 1,203,715,086 from the total GH 1,330,204,393 that was allocated for the Contingency Fund was paid from the Stabilization Fund.

The sum was the equivalent in cedis of the $200 million over the Stabilization Fund’s $100 million ceiling, the official claimed.

Replenishing fund

Mr. Ofori Atta stated in a statement read on his behalf yesterday in front of the Parliament that the government advanced and used GH1,201,911,778 from the Contingency Fund between 2020 and 2021 to cover COVID-19-related expenses.

His breakdown was as follows: 2020 ($1,200,696,496) and 2021 ($1,669,387).

“As of December 31, 2021, the Contingency Fund account had a balance of GHC 660,117,959.

As stated to this House in April 2020, the Ministry of Finance, the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, and the Bank of Ghana are collaborating to replenish the account over the medium term.

Dr. Amin Adams, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, read Mr. Ofori Atta’s statement in answer to a query from James Klutse Avedzi, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Ketu North.

The MP wanted to know how much money had been allocated by the Parliament for the Contingency Fund, how much had been advanced from it between 2017 until the present, and how those advances had been used.

Dedication to transparency

According to the finance minister, the administration has actively complied with the legal requirements controlling the public finances, demonstrating its commitment to transparency and responsibility in the use of public monies.

“We have demonstrated unparalleled transparency with regard to accountability for funds from the Contingency Fund to primarily meet COVID-related operations,” he said.

He claimed that the COVID-19 expenditures and funding sources, including the contingency fund, had all been thoroughly audited by the Auditor-General from March 2020 to June 2022 in compliance with article 187 of the Constitution and at “my request in July 2022.”

The minister stated that the report had subsequently been transmitted to Parliament in a letter dated December 30, 2022, and referred to the Public Accounts Committee after that.

increased responsibility
According to Mr. Ofori Atta, Ghanaians are seeing greater accountability and openness in the management of the public purse under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo than at any other point throughout the Fourth Republic.

The Public Financial Management Act 2016 (Act 921)’s reporting requirements, including those for budget implementation reports, fiscal reports, annual public debt reports, and petroleum revenue management reports, have been followed by the government since 2017.

Mr. Ofori Atta remarked, “Mr. Speaker, we are establishing a responsive culture of accountability and transparency in public finance management.

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