Many government contracts are likely to be put on hold in the coming months as government begins addressing the country’s high deficit. Government has announced that it intends to take measure to aggressively cut the deficit.

Speaking at a workshop organized by the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalist (IFEJ) on the dissemination of budget statement and economic policy, the Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper said government is cutting down the awarding of contracts as part of measures to control its spending.

“With the approval of his Excellency and cabinet, we have instructed the slowing down of the award of new contracts.”

The country’s deficit hit 12 percent of GDP last year against a target of 6.7 percent. The high deficit has been attributed to the implementation of Single Spine Salary Structure, short falls in corporate taxes as well as utility and petroleum subsidies among others.