The Head of the Finance Department at the University of Ghana Business School, Prof Godfred Bokpin, has charged government to set priorities right to ensure that the country’s resources are invested wisely.
His comment comes in the wake of the ongoing debate over the propriety of the use the Heritage Fund, a portion of Ghana’s oil revenue set aside for its unborn generation, by government to fund the its Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
He was of the view that government could find funds for the cost of the programme but said prioritisation of the needs of the country is more crucial.
“It doesn’t look like it is beyond our means, but it is also about prioritisation…it is about maximising the alternative uses of our scarce resources,” he stated on Class FM’s 505 news programme on Friday, February 17.
“If we think, as a people, that the most optimal way of using a portion of our money is to fund Free SHS then we must commit ourselves and explore efficiency in that direction as well.”
For him, if the policy would work, sustainable funding must be accessed.
He noted that other alternatives can be explored in generating revenue for key government policies, indicating that the annual budget funding amount is not used efficiently.
He, therefore, called for a rationalisation of the budget, lamenting how a huge chunk is spent on capacity building which does not yield any significant results.
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