The Minority in Parliament today March 30, 2020 shot down proposals for government to use part of the Heritage Fund to finance the fight against the coronavirus disease in the country.
According to the Minority in Parliament it’s not yet time for government to touch the Heritage Fund.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament today, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta proposed the amendment of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to allow the government to utilize portions of the Fund.
President Nana Akufo-Addo in his last address to the nation on the spread of Coronavirus in Ghana on Friday, March 27, 2020, said that he has instructed the Finance Minister to make available GHC1 billion in a move to mitigate the impact of Coronavirus on businesses and households and to ensure that job losses are minimized.
However, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu argued that the government’s financial programmes must directly affect the ordinary Ghanaian.
“There is no difficulty in giving him (Finance Minister) approval to use the stabilization Fund but what we are saying is that the Heritage Fund was set out for a purpose and we are not there yet. So make use of the stabilization reserve to support your activities and not the Heritage Fund,” Haruna Iddrisu insisted.
ALL YOU NED TO KNOW ABOUT THE HERITAGE FUND
The Heritage Fund is a creation of section 10 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act 815 enacted in 2011.
The purpose of the establishment of this fund is to provide an endowment to support the development of future generations when the petroleum reserves have been depleted according to Act 815 (2011) and amended Act 893 (2015).
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The fund receives a percentage of oil revenue accrued to the Petroleum Holding Fund.
In view of this Parliament of Ghana pegged this figure at 9%. This means that out of the total oil revenue received into the Petroleum Holding Fund the Heritage Fund receives only 9%.
