By Elizabeth Larkwor Baah GNAÂ
Tema, June 18, GNA – Dr Daniel Osabutey, Senior Lecturer at the Business School of Accra Technical University, has urged the Ministry of Finance to improve the quality and consistency of In-Year Budget Reports and publish simplified citizens’ budgets in multiple languages to enhance transparency and public participation.Â
Dr Osabutey said making budget information more accessible to ordinary citizens was essential to rebuilding public trust and improving accountability in the management of public resources.
He made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in reaction to Ghana’s performance in the 2025 Open Budget Survey, which recorded a sharp decline in the country’s budget transparency score from 46 per cent in 2023 to 22 per cent in 2025.
He said the score placed Ghana below the Sub-Saharan African average of 38 per cent.
“Ghana’s transparency score is more than an international ranking; it is a reflection of the health of the country’s public financial management system. Reversing the current decline will require political commitment, institutional discipline, and genuine citizen inclusion,” he stated.
Dr Osabutey further stated that, “a strong transparency score strengthens democratic accountability, boosts investor confidence, enhances the credibility of fiscal policy, and reduces opportunities for waste, corruption, and the misuse of public resources.”
He explained that budget transparency goes beyond publishing technical financial documents; rather, it involves providing citizens with timely, comprehensive, and understandable information on how the government raises, allocates, and spends public funds.
Dr Osabutey observed that one of the major factors contributing to Ghana’s decline was the inconsistent publication of key budget documents, particularly in-year reports, adding that these reports played a critical role in helping citizens, Parliament, civil society organisations, investors, and development partners track government spending and monitor fiscal performance throughout the year.
He stressed that timely and reliable in-year reports promoted accountability by allowing the public to compare government spending against approved budgets and identify any deviations early.
The financial expert further urged the Ministry of Finance to produce simplified citizens’ budgets that present complex financial information in a clear and understandable format, saying many Ghanaians were unable to engage with budget documents because they were highly technical and often inaccessible to people without specialised knowledge of public finance.
According to him, translating citizens’ budgets into major local languages and providing them in accessible formats would help bridge the information gap between government and citizens, noting that wider access to budget information would empower communities to monitor public spending, demand accountability, and contribute more effectively to discussions on national development priorities.
Dr Osabutey argued also that stronger budget transparency would have positive economic implications, explaining that transparent fiscal systems improve investor confidence, strengthen the credibility of government policies, and demonstrate a commitment to prudent financial management.
He added that development partners and international investors often consider budget transparency as an important indicator of institutional strength and policy predictability.
He acknowledged the recent reforms, including provisions under the amended Public Financial Management Act for the establishment of an independent fiscal council, and maintained that more work was needed to improve public access to budget information.
He called for sustained efforts to institutionalise the timely publication of all key budget documents and intensify public education on the budget process and expressed confidence that Ghana could reverse its declining transparency score if the government demonstrated strong political commitment, institutional discipline, and genuine citizen inclusion in the budget process.
GNA
Edited by Laudia Anyorkor Nunoo/Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Elizabeth Larkwor Baah, GNAÂ
[email protected]Â