Some Ghanaians have taken a swipe at Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta over suggestions that Ghanaians have been heavily relieved since the coming into office of the NPP government because their efforts on various fronts have put monies into the pockets of Ghanaians.

Mr. Ofori-Atta, while presenting the 2020 Budget statement in Parliament, said government has directly or indirectly put some GH¢12.2 billion into the pockets of Ghanaians since 2017 through its major initiatives and social interventions.

But reacting to the Finance Minister’s comments, some Ghanaians who spoke to www.ghanaweb.com described the claims as false, noting that it wouldn’t be far from right to state that government officials are the only beneficiaries of these monies.

Instead they said, this ‘robotic’ economy has left citizenries with nothing but hardship.

“What he said is a very big fallacy because there’s still hardship. Maybe he’s sitting in an AC office so he thinks everything is fine,” one of the interviewees said.

"Look at the situation on the ground, nothing is really going on. I side with the opposition that the budget was empty and nothing to write home about….same old story, always preaching instead of reading the economic benefits and telling us the actual figures…the hardship has quadrippled,” another said.

Minority spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson also waded into the controversy, ridiculing government's claim that it has put GH¢12.2 billion in the pockets of Ghanaians.



Speaking to Joy FM’s Evans Mensah on Wednesday, Mr Forson described the argument as one-sided because government has taken more from Ghanaians than it has given them.

Some Ghanaians, however, sided with the Finance Minister’s 12 billion cedis claim.