The Committee has recommended to the government to explore other domestic revenue sources such as cocoa and minerals, given that these sectors were still in active operation.

This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Noble Wadzah, Chairman, PIAC and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

Mr Ken Ofori Atta, the Finance Minister on March 30, asked Parliament to amend the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), to allow the government to access the Heritage Fund to help in the fight against the new coronavirus pandemic.

The statement said PIAC  supported the use of part of the  Stabilisation  Fund for  COVID-19  but was against the utilisation of the Heritage Fund for COVID-19.

"PIAC is calling for a balance in allocating funds to the budget, adding that the Sinking and Contingency Funds, as skewed withdrawals towards debt servicing have not prepared the country for national emergencies", it said.

The Committee said even though the Health Sector was a priority area for ABFA expenditure, the pandemic had reinforced the critical nature of the  Sector, with its interconnections to economic development,   national security,   food security, and the survival of the citizenry.

The statement urged the government to review allocations to the sector vis-à-vis allocations to other priority areas such as roads and rail, education and agriculture.

It said the Committee's position in the statement was informed by its mandate under Act 815, to provide independent assessment on the management and use of Ghana's petroleum revenues; by adhering to the principles and philosophy that informed the passage of the PRMA.

According to the Committee, there have been previous attempts by successive governments to access the  Heritage  Fund for various reasons, to which  PIAC objected, adding that the Committee's position was consistent with its understanding of the spirit of the PRMA  on the management and use of the Ghana Heritage Fund.

The statement said the government's search for resources to address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was in the right direction.

It said PIAC observes with interest,  government's intention to lower the cap on the  Ghana Stabilisation  Fund (GSF) to  US$100  million to use the excess for contingency purposes.

The statement said governments over the years have made limited petroleum revenue transfers to the  Contingency  Fund thereby depriving it of the needed resources for addressing emergencies such as the  COVID-19 pandemic.

The  GSF  is meant for shoring up the  ABFA  in times of budget shortfalls,  providing for contingency,  and debt servicing.  However,  withdrawals from the GSF over the years have been heavily tilted in favour of debt servicing, as against a balance between the budget, debt servicing, and contingency purposes.

It said the Heritage Fund received only nine per cent of the country's petroleum revenues in a given fiscal year, which makes available a whopping 91 per cent of petroleum revenue for government spending.