Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance, claims that the money being pushed into the construction of the National Cathedral is a prospective investment that will pay dividends.
According to him, the government is conscious of the fact that taxpayers' money is being used to support the construction of the National Cathedral and is strategizing to guarantee that the funds invested in the project be recouped as soon as feasible after completion.
He believes that the state's current economic difficulties should not stop it from completing its obligation to construct a monument with significant investment potential.
As a result, the Finance Minister has urged detractors of the National Cathedral project to be cautious in their critiques. "Was there ever a moment in Europe when these structures were created that was the correct time?" The question of how to pay for it will arise. Is the executive aware of the current circumstances? Because we are impoverished, we should not suffocate our religiousness or spirituality. If we put our widows mite in there, the Lord would understand," Ken Ofori-Atta remarked on GTV's Talking Point show on Sunday.
Some Ghanaians are opposed to the construction of the National Cathedral and urge the government to abandon the project due to the country's economic crisis and the hardships that its citizens are experiencing.
This came after it was revealed that the government had just allocated GH25 million as seed money to the National Cathedral Secretariat. The Finance Minister, on the other hand, feels the blazing discussion about the National Cathedral's financial prudence and relevance is wrong.
"Is it true that we are squandering money from the state's coffers?" Is that too much to ask since we've politicized the situation? Do we truly want to put an end to it? "I'm going to ask you a question."
Ken Ofori-Atta urges detractors to remember the real money the National Cathedral project may bring in to help the government meet its income goals.
"As a Minister of Finance, we are looking at resources and how much we put in there at any moment in time that is reasonable," he said. "As of right now, we have spent less than one-thousandth of our budget."
"I am quite confident in my ability to get income to support this, and more significantly, if I look at the economics of it, I actually see an overwhelming potential for it to pay off." In most cases, I'm looking at an internal rate of return, so keep that in mind."