The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has told Parliament on Thursday July 23 that the government will expand procurement from local producers for its goods and services.

Presenting the mid year budget statement to the House, he said : “Government will inject liquidity into the system to ease cash flow difficulties of businesses and protect workers by honouring obligations to contractors and suppliers in a timely manner.

“Building on recent good experience of sourcing from the pharmaceuticals and textile & garment sectors, Government will expand procurement from local producers for its goods and services.”

Government will intensify support for farmers through the Planting for Food and Jobs and Rearing for Food and Jobs programmes,

He further stated that : “We will aggressively facilitate access to financing for rice millers to enable them to purchase paddy from rice farmers.

“In addition, we will provide financial support to the National Buffer Stock Company and Ghana Commodity Exchange to enable them store and trade stocks as needed to smoothen out supplies on the market.”