General News of Friday, 12 March 2021

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Coronavirus: We rose to the extraordinary challenge of protecting jobs - Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader in Parliament play videoOsei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu is minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader in Parliament

The representative of the Finance Minister, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has said that as a priority, the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, worked at safeguarding almost all jobs of employees, especially in the public sector.

He said that while many countries around the world were greatly affected by the pandemic, Ghana did its best to ensure that at least not many people lost their jobs.

He made this known during the 2021 budget reading in Parliament, on behalf of the minister-designate for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, who is out of the country seeking medical care.

"Mr. Speaker, with revenues slumping and COVID-related expenditures rising, the Akufo-Addo Government was tested beyond measure. We believe, it is fair to say, that we rose to this extraordinary challenge. Indeed, despite the squeeze, Government succeeded in protecting virtually all jobs and incomes in the public sector. What the people of Ghana have witnessed since the coronavirus pandemic and to the admiration of the rest of the world, is a leadership of conviction that is responsible, creative, courageous, decisive, and caring," he said.

Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu represented Ken Ofori-Atta in reading the budget because the latter is out of the country on health grounds.

The budget was on the theme, "Economic Revitalisation through Completion,
Consolidation & Continuity", also known as the “WƆN YA WƆ HIƐƐ BUDGET”!