All government ministers who embark on official\u00a0foreign\u00a0travels on first class tickets have been directed by the presidency to stop with immediate effect.<\/p>\n
Government has also directed all its ministers to cut down on foreign travels in a bid to curtail government spending.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”qTqFR0yVXkNHCKOYCpHvjw0oXNFZ9Agd”]The directive was issued in a letter \u00a0from the office of the president and signed by the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah on November 16.<\/p>\n
Even though government has not clearly stated exactly how much these travels cost\u00a0government, the Chief of Staff expressed some concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is needless to emphasise the serious impact the current frequent travels abroad by Ministers and Public officials are having on government finances,” he said.<\/p>\n
The letter further directed the ministers to use business class instead of first class flights when need arises.<\/p>\n
“To arrest the situation all Hon. Ministers are reminded to restrict foreign travels in their sectors to mandatory international assignments only. All non-essential travels are to be stopped. Hon. Ministers are also entreated to travel by Business Class and not first class, as stated in the letter,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n
The order follows a similar directive by the President of Tanzania, John Magufuli who has restricted all first and business class travel to government officials, except the president, vice president and prime minister.<\/p>\n
Ghana’s government under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, is being restricted in its spending to reduce the budget deficit to meet the 2016 target of 7.3% of GDP.<\/p>\n