The school of thought that says the government’s flagship Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy has negatively impacted the country’s economy is unfounded, Deputy Finance Minister Dr. John Kumah has stated.
According to him, the policy since its inception has not superseded the government’s total expenditures for the years it has run therefore the notion among the public is not true.
Dr. Kumah made these remarks on Accra-based Citi FM ahead of Thursday’s 2023 mid-year budget review.
“It’s not true that Free SHS is a huge elephant in the room. The allocation for Free SHS in the 2023 budget was GH¢2.9 billion, and the entire appropriation for the year was GH¢228 billion. You cannot tell me that if you are spending GH¢2.9 billion out of GH¢228 billion, that is the elephant in the room.
“And this is covering over 1.3 million Ghanaian children. The elephant in the room is our debt, the interest payments we made,” he said.
He stressed “The impact and benefits of Free SHS go to the core of the vulnerable and, of course, the future of the human resource of our country. And for me, that is non-negotiable.”
He reiterated also that the NPP government remains committed to achieving growth of the economy to ease the burden on the ordinary citizen.
“We want to achieve growth in the midst of fiscal constraints,” said John Kumah.
