Prof Gatsi Cautions Govt Over Contingency Fund Usage

The Dean of the School of Business at the University of Cape Coast, Professor Gartchie John Gatsi is cautioning government to be more prudent with proceeds from the Contingency Fund.

His comments come on the back of the disclosure by the finance minister on the floor of parliament that the Contingency Fund now stands at GH¢200 million.

The amount is out of the total amount of GH¢1.33 billion that Parliament voted between 2017 and 2022 for the Fund.

But Prof. Gatsi argues that the current state of the country’s buffers is not encouraging as it may further worsen the economic fortunes of the state.

“Even if you are to use it, it must be done conservatively bearing in mind that it is not supposed to be exhausted because it has to be protecting the finances of the economy,” he said.

“So, if we just go into it as if it any other funds to use that are a misplaced agenda and that shouldn’t be encouraged so we have to be very careful with what we do with it. Most of the buffers we have we have in our finances have been eroded over time,” he cautioned.