The minority in Parliament is predicting the 2019 budget to be presented to Parliament Thursday will not give hope to Ghanaians, and asked the people to brace themselves up for tougher times next year.

Minority spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, said Ghanaians should not expect anything positive from the 2019 budget, claiming it will be a “hopeless budget”.

The position of the minority is in sharp contrast to President Nana Akufo-Addo’s statement that the budget will give hope to Ghanaians. The President speaking at a forum in South Africa lamented the number of people who pay tax and stressed the need to expand the tax net.

"The 2019 budget would reflect the hope Ghanaians have in the government and the future of the country”, Nana Akufo-Addo said at the forum.

“Contrary to what the President claimed, our analysis shows that Ghanaians are in for tough times in the year 2019. There is no indication in government policy direction, we, therefore, cannot agree with the president on the claims of hope on the 2019 budget”, Ato Forson said.

Making projections into the year 2019, the minority said things are going to get tougher, claiming the government will introduce new taxes to deal with the banking sector crises which led to the collapses of seven banks in a year.

They are also predicting that the government will accumulate more debts with an increase in unemployment figures while Ghanaians continue to wallow in hardships.

According to Ato Forson, Ghana’s debt has jumped from 122 billion cedis to 159 billion cedis in 21 months under the Akufo-Addo government, adding it will get worse in the coming days.