By Francis Ntow
Accra, July 23, GNA – Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Finance Minister, will today present the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review to Parliament, outlining the economy’s first-half performance.
The review, required under Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), will provide updates on government revenue and expenditure for the first half of 2026 and the fiscal outlook for the remainder of the year.
The presentation comes as government pursues fiscal consolidation alongside programmes aimed at reducing hardship, sustaining macroeconomic stability, implementing structural reforms, creating jobs and restoring investor confidence under the 2026-2029 Budget Preparation Guidelines.
The review is also expected to update Parliament and the public on the implementation of flagship programmes, including the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, Adwumawura, the National Apprenticeship Programme and the Big Push infrastructure initiative.
It is anticipated that the Minister will report on the implementation of the Accelerated Economic Transformation Agenda (AETA), comprising the Feed Ghana Programme, Ghana Grains Development Project, Vegetable Development Project and the ‘Nkoko Nkitinkiti’ initiative.
Updates are also expected on the Digital Jobs Initiative, particularly the One Million Coders Programme, the establishment of the Women’s Development Bank, entrepreneurship support measures and interventions to promote private sector growth.
On the social sector, the review is expected to cover the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme, the Capitation Grant, Free SHS, the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Free Primary Healthcare and the Ghana Medical Care Trust (MahamaCares).
Other expected updates include the No Academic Fee policy for first-year students in public tertiary institutions, free tertiary education for persons with disabilities and the distribution of free sanitary pads to female students in primary and secondary schools.
Ahead of the presentation, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, said at the 131st Monetary Policy Committee press briefing on Wednesday that Ghana’s economy remained resilient during the first quarter of 2026.
He said real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 6.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 6.2 per cent during the corresponding period in 2025, driven mainly by the services and industry sectors.
Dr Asiama said the Bank’s Composite Index of Economic Activity recorded annual growth of 13.4 per cent in May 2026, compared with 4.4 per cent in May 2025, indicating sustained expansion in economic activity.
He said inflation increased to 5.3 per cent in June 2026 from 3.7 per cent in May, reflecting higher food and non-food prices, but remained below the lower bound of the medium-term target band of 8±2 per cent.
According to the Governor, public debt stood at GH¢720.8 billion, representing 45.1 per cent of GDP, at the end of May 2026, compared with GH¢613.4 billion, or 42.8 per cent of GDP, at the end of December 2025.
He said Gross International Reserves stood at US$12.9 billion at the end of June 2026, equivalent to 5.0 months of import cover, down from US$13.8 billion, or 5.7 months of import cover, at the end of December 2025.
Professor Godfred Alufar Bokpin, an Economist, said he did not expect major policy changes in the review because Ghana remained committed to the fiscal consolidation programme initiated in 2025.
“The government already signalled markets and the public that it will pursue austerity for about two years, spanning 2025 and 2026, before progressively easing spending from 2027,” he said.
Prof Bokpin, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, commended the recent gains in macroeconomic stability but said, “stability is not an end but a foundation. From stability, the country must build resilience, and from resilience move toward structural and productivity transformation.”
He urged government to implement measures to increase the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio from about 14 per cent to between 18 and 20 per cent by 2028.
On Ghana’s planned exit from the International Monetary Fund’s US$3 billion loan-supported programme and the proposed adoption of a non-financing Policy Coordination Instrument, Prof Bokpin said the arrangement should be complemented by a Resilience and Sustainability Facility.
He said the facility, which provides concessional financing, had been utilised by a number of African countries, including Kenya.
Atta Issah, Member of Parliament for Sagnarigu and a member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, said he expected the review to focus on flood mitigation, infrastructure development, rural electrification and the operationalisation of the Women’s Development Bank.
“I expect that no new taxes will be introduced. We are a government that is sensitive and listening to the plight of the people. At a time when people are struggling, you do not come and impose additional burdens on them, and Thursday will not be an exception,” he said during a radio interview monitored by
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Francis Ntow
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