We Will Not Squander Taxpayer Money Like Others – Finance Minister Assures Ghanaians

Finance Minister, Dr Cassel Ato Forson, has assured Ghanaians that the Mahama administration will exercise strict fiscal discipline and prudently manage public resources to prevent the country from returning to the economic crisis experienced in 2022.

Delivering a statement in Parliament on Ghana’s new engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dr. Forson said the current government inherited a deeply troubled economy marked by soaring inflation, rapid depreciation of the cedi, rising debt levels, investor uncertainty, and painful domestic debt restructuring that affected pensioners, businesses, banks, and ordinary citizens.

According to him, the previous administration’s economic mismanagement forced Ghana into an IMF bailout programme after the country lost access to international capital markets and suffered repeated sovereign credit rating downgrades in 2022.

He stated that the Mahama administration immediately introduced a series of corrective measures upon assuming office, including expenditure controls, fiscal reforms, debt management policies, reduction in the size of government, and the removal of what he described as nuisance taxes such as the E-Levy, Betting Tax, and Emissions Levy.

The Finance Minister said the government also introduced the GoldBod initiative to support foreign exchange stability, operationalized the Sinking Fund to manage debt obligations, established an Independent Fiscal Council to ensure compliance with fiscal rules, and renegotiated Independent Power Producer agreements to save the country over US$250 million.

Dr. Forson announced that the reforms have produced significant economic gains, with Ghana recording a 6.0 percent GDP growth in 2025 and non-oil GDP growth reaching 7.6 percent, the highest in 14 years.

He further disclosed that Ghana’s economy crossed the US$100 billion threshold in 2025, making it one of Africa’s emerging market economies, while the country’s public debt-to-GDP ratio declined sharply from 61.8 percent in 2024 to 44.7 percent by the end of 2025.

Inflation, he said, also dropped from 23.8 percent in December 2024 to 3.4 percent in April 2026, while Treasury bill rates and the monetary policy rate declined substantially, easing pressure on businesses and households.

“Fiscal prudence and discipline always deliver results,” Dr. Forson stressed, adding that the government would not repeat the mistakes that plunged the country into economic hardship.

He assured Ghanaians that the Mahama administration would not squander taxpayer money through wasteful expenditure, corruption, or bloated governance structures.

The Finance Minister also announced that Ghana has successfully concluded the final review of its current IMF bailout programme, pending approval by the IMF Executive Board.

He explained that Ghana’s future engagement with the IMF would now transition from a financing arrangement to a non-financing Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI), which will focus on reforms, policy credibility, and investor confidence rather than financial bailout support.

According to him, the transition marks a major milestone in Ghana’s economic recovery journey and reflects the country’s movement “from crisis management to stability, and from dependence on bailout to partnership in reform.”

Dr. Forson emphasized that no further IMF financial bailout would be required in the foreseeable future, declaring that Ghana had moved “from the intensive care unit to the wellness centre.”

He further revealed that the Mahama administration is preparing a new economic transformation agenda dubbed “The New Economy,” expected to be unveiled in the 2027 Budget, with focus on job creation, productivity, resilience, and broad-based prosperity.

The Finance Minister expressed gratitude to Ghanaians for their patience and sacrifices during the difficult economic period and pledged that the government would continue working to build a stable and prosperous economy for future generations.

Source: Felix NYAABA/expressnewsghana.com