Do not finance free SHS with oil revenues only – PIAC

General News of Sunday, July 7th, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-07-07

The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) of Ghana, the official body responsible for monitoring and ensuring the efficient management of oil revenues, advocated for alternative means of financing government policy in favor of free high school.

"We should not base all our hopes on oil revenues for the successful implementation of the program because it is not sustainable," warned President Steve Manteaw.

According to PIAC, an amount of 414.62 million GH, representing 98.75% of the disbursement of the annual allocated budget (ABFA) to the priority areas of education, was allocated to the "Free SHS" program in 2018.

Dr. Manteaw, who launched the "PIAC 2018 Annual Report" in Kumasi, revealed that cumulative income of US $ 4.97 billion had been realized from the country's annual oil revenue for the period 2011-2018.

The PIAC President drew attention to the changing dynamics of the oil sector, particularly unpredictable price fluctuations on the world stage; mark it as a possible threat.

This could in the future, he said, affect "our ability as a nation to mobilize the necessary resources solely from the sector to fund the program".

He called on stakeholders and policymakers to continue their deliberations to find other ways to supplement oil sector revenues to finance the program.

The program, an initiative of the administration headed by Nana Akufo-Addo, introduced in 2017, has since benefited more than 400,000 students.

This is part of efforts to strengthen the country's human resource base by giving growing young people the opportunity to benefit from a postgraduate education, regardless of their financial situation.

Mr. Manteaw hinted that the total petroleum revenue paid to the Petroleum Management Fund in 2018 was $ 977,093,285.00.

The PIAC report pointed out that in relation to total crude production in 2017, which was 58,658,063. 54 barrels, there was an increase of 5.93 percent in 2018.