Petroleum fund
Another issue Mr Agyeman cited was the administration of the Ghana Petroleum Fund (GPF), which is made up of the Ghana Heritage Fund (GHF) and the Ghana Stabilisation Fund (GSF).
He noted that the instruments in which the GHF was invested were low risk resulting in low returns, therefore, there was the need to diversify the investment portfolios so that the returns at the end of the day would be quite appreciable.
On the other hand, he explained that although the essence of the GSF is to provide economic buffer in times of unanticipated shocks to the national economy, about 90 per cent of withdrawals from the fund over the 10-year period of oil production has gone into debt repayment.
The production of crude oil fell by 6. 3 per cent in 2020 from the 2019 volume, the first such drop in over three consecutive oil production increases, the 2020 Annual Management Report of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has revealed.
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN PIAC AND THE PUBLIC TO BOLSTER ACCOUNTABILITY
May 17, 2021
The discovery of oil and gas in commercial quantities off the west coast of Ghana in 2007 ignited hope in many Ghanaians because of its accompanying financial benefit which had the potential to address the enormous infrastructure challenges in the country and improve the quality of life of Ghanaians.
However, having witnessed the destructive consequence of oil wealth on the democratic development of neighbouring oil-rich countries, the anticipation was interlaced with some iota of anxiety lest Ghana repeated the mistakes of her neighbours and ended up suffering the same fate as them.
PIAC calls for proper targeting of Annual Budget Funding Amount ghanavisions.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ghanavisions.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has called for conscious efforts to ensure better targeting of the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) allocation for maximum impact.
It said assessment of the management and utilisation of the ABFA mechanism over the years had shown that although four priority areas are selected, actual spending normally covered all the 12 listed priority areas within the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA).
“This practice has resulted in a situation where the ABFA is used to fund all manner of activities outside of the four priority areas,” it said.
Besides, while governments over the years had duly selected up to four priority areas, the sectors were not equally assessed, resulting in a situation where some priority areas receive a larger percentage of the ABFA than others.