The Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, is proposing to dedicate 3% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to support the private sector.
The three percent, which according to him would amount to GH¢30 billion is being dedicated to the private sector, with the aim of lessening the fiscal burden on the economy.
The Vice President, Dr. Bawumia, announced this idea on Sunday, November 3, 2024 at the Borteyman Sports Complex, where he outlined his policies for the youth and job creation.
“We are proposing in the first four years that we are going to move immediately 3% of GDP of government expenditure to the private sector.
“The 3% of GDP comes up to about GH¢30 billion, and we are moving that to the private sector. This is jobs. This is jobs for the people,” he said.
REASON
Explaining the rationale behind the proposal, Dr. Bawumia mentioned that he intended to include the private sector in the provision of “many services,” adding that it will “create fiscal space” for his government.
According to him, the private sector would be incentivised through the allocation of the percentage of the government’s expenditure to execute projects for the government to pay overtime.
His aim is to prevent the government from using bulk money to purchase items at a go, when the private sector could intervene to offload that burden. He gave a scenario that if the government decides to put up a building, the private sector, motivated by the expenditure assurance, will build it with their funds and enter into an arrangement with the government to be paid later.
“I believe that the private sector should finance the construction and maintenance of roads through PPP concessionary.
“Also, the government will move towards leasing rather than purchasing vehicles, printing equipment, and so on.
“The private sector will have the responsibility for maintaining the equipment. With this approach, the budget can save very significant outright cash expenditure annually from various items across ministries, departments, and agencies,” he said.
“Because the private sector knows the government is going to rent this building if I build it. They will build it quickly, and they will rent it, and we will pay. So, you will not have many uncompleted projects around the country. Because the private sector has an interest in completing all of these projects, whether hospitals, whether schools, whether roads.
Because they know they will be paid and their banks know they will be paid, the pressure on government will be much less,” he elaborated.
Dr. Bawumia opined that his idea represents a major paradigm shift, “and this is why I say it has not been done before. We are going to do something very new structurally in our budget. We are also going to make sure that we continue the infrastructure programme that we are engaged in, in many projects.”
BUY GHANA
The NPP presidential candidate also proposed a Buy Ghana First policy to be backed by law.
He explained that the policy will mandate the public sector to look into Ghana for every purchase, and where there are no manufacturers; the private sector will be empowered to produce.
He said he got the idea after visiting the Volta Star Textile Company in Juapong and realised the company produced but the government was not purchasing.
“…that these uniforms and materials were now being imported from abroad for the schools, and I thought, no, that is wrong because that means we are creating unemployment,” he said.
He continued that “We need to rethink as a country and be smart in that regard. So, I thought very quickly. I said we will implement a buy Ghana first policy. And we are going to back it with law.”
He used the event, which ended with an open forum, to outline other plans he intends to use to create jobs should he be elected as president.
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