By Francis Ntow, GNA
Accra, Nov. 11, GNA – After two years of stabilisation, fiscal restraint and economic recovery efforts, Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson will appear before Parliament on Thursday, November 12, to present the 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
The budget, which outlines the Government’s revenue and expenditure plans, will be a critical test of its ability to translate macroeconomic stability into productive investment, job creation, and improved living conditions.
Beyond the figures, the presentation is expected to provide an account of the Government’s performance over the past year and make a case for its proposed economic transformation agenda, dubbed: the “New Economy”.
President John Dramani Mahama has already set the tone, announcing a US$10 billion New Economy investment programme to drive job-rich growth between 2027 and 2030.
The Government has maintained that it will avoid returning to the international capital market to contract expensive loans, indicating that much of the financing for the New Economy and other development projects will come from domestic resources.
The 2027 Budget, backed by Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 21 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), will therefore be expected to explain how the Government intends to mobilise, allocate and spend the resources.
The Scorecard: What did the 2026 Budget Deliver?
A review of the 2026 Budget implementation reveals a mixed picture of completed initiatives, missed targets, ongoing flagship programmes and improvements in key macroeconomic indicators.
At the macroeconomic level, the Government has recorded progress against some of its 2026 targets.
Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth reached six per cent in the second quarter of 2026, exceeding the annual target of 4.8 per cent.
Inflation declined to 5.5 per cent in October 2026, within the target band of eight per cent, plus or minus two percentage points. It reached a low of 3.2 per cent in March before recording three consecutive monthly increases between August and October.
The primary fiscal balance, which measures government revenue against expenditure excluding interest payments, recorded a surplus of 0.9 per cent in the second quarter, below the target of 1.5 per cent.
Gross international reserves reached 4.2 months of import cover in August 2026, exceeding the minimum target of three months and signalling an improved external reserves position.
Key programmes and policy delivery
An assessment of the 2026 Budget commitments shows that several major policy measures have been implemented.
These include the No Fees Stress Policy, the Free Sanitary Pad Programme and Value Added Tax (VAT) reforms.
The Government also abolished the one per cent COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy and restructured the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) and Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) Levy by consolidating them into the standard VAT base.
It also completed the US$3 billion, three-year International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported programme and signed a new three-year Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) to sustain macroeconomic stability.
Several legislative measures have also been passed, including the Value for Money Office Bill, Growth and Sustainability Levy (Amendment) Bill, 2026, Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, Excise Bill, 2026, Customs Bill, 2026, Energy Sector Levies (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and Ghana Cocoa Board Bill, 2026.
These interventions are intended to ease the cost of living, improve access to education and healthcare, strengthen fiscal governance and consolidate economic recovery.
However, several flagship programmes remain at various stages of implementation.
They include the Big Push Infrastructure Programme, 24-Hour Economy Programme and Adwumawura Enterprise Support Programme.
Other ongoing initiatives include the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, also known as Mahama Cares, which targets support for people with chronic illnesses; the One Million Coders Programme; and the National Apprenticeship Programme.
The programmes are expected to support economic transformation through infrastructure development, skills training, digital innovation, agricultural modernisation, entrepreneurship, healthcare and job creation.
The proposed Women’s Development Bank is also yet to become operational. As of November 10, an application for a licence had been submitted to the Bank of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance.
2027 BUDGET: Shifting from stabilization to production, Value addition and Jobs
The Government has signalled that the 2027 Budget will mark a shift from macroeconomic stabilisation towards production, industrialisation and employment creation.
In recent speeches, President Mahama has announced several proposed interventions, including the US$10 billion New Economy initiative, GH¢10 million in seed funding for the Media Development Fund and GH¢400 million for land reclamation and environmental protection.
He has also announced plans to establish a vaccine and pharmaceutical production hub.
Other commitments include GH¢250 million to complete Phase Two of the Blekusu Coastal Protection Project and GH¢685 million through the West African Coastal Areas Resilience Investment (WACA) programme for coastal protection works in erosion-prone communities in Anlo.
On the proposed Keta Port project, the President has disclosed that seven companies have been shortlisted as potential partners, with the administration block expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2027.
The Government has also announced plans for a 200-acre Ghana EXIM Bank industrial park in Keta, targeting textile and garment production. The project is expected to create 3,000 jobs initially, with the potential to increase employment to 10,000.
The New Economy agenda is expected to focus on key priority areas, including macroeconomic stability, commercial agriculture and agribusiness, energy, critical minerals and value addition, cotton, textiles and garments, tourism, culture and the creative economy, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The central question, however, is how these ambitions will be financed, sequenced and translated into measurable economic outcomes.
Praised for Stability, Critized for weak implementation
Economic policy institutions, including the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), Institute of Public Policy and Accountability, and Centre for Policy Scrutiny (CPS), have acknowledged the Government’s macroeconomic gains.
However, they have raised concerns that much of the improvement has come through expenditure restraint rather than stronger domestic revenue mobilisation.
They have also questioned the realism of some revenue and growth targets, the absence of a clearly articulated post-IMF exit strategy and the inadequate funding of flagship initiatives.
Programmes such as the 24-Hour Economy and the Government’s 800,000-jobs ambition have faced criticism over insufficient budgetary allocations and the absence of measurable implementation targets.
The Minority in Parliament has similarly argued that several promised projects and employment initiatives have not been implemented as planned, leaving many constituencies without visible development despite the Government’s claims of fiscal discipline.
For instance, the Minority says only GH¢110 million was allocated to the 24-Hour Economy Programme in the 2026 Budget, against its stated US$4 billion ambition.
It has also questioned the absence of a comprehensive assessment showing how many businesses have introduced additional shifts or created jobs under the programme.
In its review of the 2026 mid-year budget, the Institute for Fiscal Studies reported that capital expenditure fell short of its target by GH¢14.38 billion.
It also found that arrears clearance achieved only 38.2 per cent of the target, with GH¢8.64 billion executed, representing a shortfall of 61.8 per cent.
These concerns reinforce the central challenge facing the 2027 Budget: demonstrating that fiscal discipline can deliver tangible development rather than remain an exercise in controlling expenditure.
Budget Beyond Rhetoric
For domestic and international economic observers, including the IMF, the next phase of Ghana’s recovery must involve a gradual shift from fiscal consolidation towards productive investment, industrial expansion and decent job creation.
The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has called for substantial investment in the 24-Hour Economy, while economist Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin has urged the Government to implement the initiative in phases.
Job creation is another major expectation.
The 2027 Budget is expected to outline measures to attract investment, improve access to affordable credit and create an enabling environment for domestic businesses to expand and employ more people.
The urgency is underscored by youth unemployment.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), unemployment among people aged 15 to 35 averaged 21.9 per cent in the first three quarters of 2025, compared with the national rate of 12.8 per cent.
The Government will therefore be under pressure to demonstrate how its proposed investments will translate into sustainable employment, particularly for young people.
The Forgotten Budget: Persons With Disabilities, Basic Education and Rural Farmers
Beyond the headline-grabbing New Economy investments are less prominent but equally pressing demands that affect the daily lives of ordinary Ghanaians.
Persons with disabilities (PWDs), for instance, are urging the Government to fulfil outstanding commitments on employment opportunities and the provision of wheelchairs.
In education, the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) and Education Watch (EduWatch) are calling for increased investment in basic education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
EduWatch has proposed allocating six per cent of the education budget to pre-tertiary education and TVET, while calling for at least 40 per cent of the education allocation, estimated at about GH¢68 billion, to address persistent funding and infrastructure gaps.
Agricultural stakeholders are also demanding greater attention to the sector.
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) and Poultry Farmers Association have called for at least 10 per cent of the 2027 national budget to be allocated to agriculture, up from the approximately 2.18 per cent allocated in 2026.
They are also advocating the timely release of approved funds, the establishment of a dedicated Agricultural Development Fund and an Agricultural Emergency Response Fund ahead of the El Niño phenomenon.
Faster completion of Farmer Service Centres, irrigation infrastructure and feeder roads also feature prominently in their demands.
These concerns highlight the need to balance large-scale industrial and infrastructure projects with investments in education, agriculture, social protection and rural development.
What To Watch Tomorrow
As the Finance Minister presents the 2027 Budget, four critical questions are expected to dominate public and parliamentary scrutiny.
First, how much will be allocated to each pillar of the New Economy, and what specific projects will the funding support?
Second, how will the funds be channeled? Will they be disbursed directly through ministries, or will institutions such as Development Bank Ghana and GIRSAL be used to provide guarantees and mobilise private-sector credit?
Third, what is the Government’s implementation scorecard for 2026, particularly regarding the 24-Hour Economy, tourism, capital expenditure and arrears clearance?
Fourth, how will the Government maintain its primary surplus target of 0.5 per cent of GDP while increasing investment in productive sectors?
Ghanaians will also be looking for clear baselines, annual targets, implementation timelines and identifiable institutions responsible for delivering the promised outcomes.
Ultimately, the 2027 Budget is more than a presentation of revenue and expenditure projections. It is a test of the Government’s credibility and its ability to move from economic stabilisation to tangible improvements in livelihoods.
The Government must demonstrate how the US$10 billion New Economy agenda differs from, and builds on, the 24-Hour Economy, while showing how both initiatives will generate investment, expand production and create sustainable jobs.
For ordinary Ghanaians, the success of the budget will not be measured solely by headline investment figures. It will also be judged by whether classrooms get teachers, farmers gain access to markets and processing facilities, and small businesses obtain affordable financing to expand.
The 2027 Budget could mark a turning point in Ghana’s economic transformation. But without clear financing arrangements, implementation timelines and measurable targets, it risks becoming another year of ambitious announcements without corresponding results.
Tomorrow, therefore, is not just Budget Day. It is a credibility test.
Source: Ghana News Agency (GNA)
