Accra, July 23, GNA – Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson will today present the 2026 mid-year budget review to Parliament, assessing the economy’s performance for the first half of the year.
The presentation, a constitutional duty under Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), comes amid heightened public and business expectations for measures to sustain recent macroeconomic stability.
The review will provide updates on revenue mobilisation, expenditure trends, debt management, progress of key government initiatives, and the economic outlook for the remainder of 2026.
It will be the first review since the completion the US$3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, earlier this year.
Ghanaians expect job-oriented policies and reduction in prices of commodities in the mid-year budget review.
Some priority initiatives expected to receive an update in the budget review include the 24-hour Economy, Big Push infrastructural project, One million coders programme, National Apprenticeship programme.
Government will continue austerity for about two years, spanning 2025 and 2026, before progressively easing spending from 2027, Prof Bokpin has observed, and urged government to go for an IMF Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) to complement PCI programme.
Also, the government has recorded some positive economic indicators this year. Inflation declined to its lowest in more than two decades to 3.2 per cent in March and has remained well below the 2026 annual target.
Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, at the Press Briefing by the Monetary Policy Committee on Wednesday, noted that the renewed conflict in the Middle East had stoked inflationary pressures and prompted several central banks, including BoG, to pause interest rate reductions, with any further escalation likely to tighten global financial conditions and affect emerging economies through trade and financial channels.
On the domestic economy, Dr Asiama said the Committee observed robust first-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and stronger economic activity.
He said the Bank’s Composite Index of Economic Activity pointed to sustained economic momentum, supported by improved business and consumer confidence.
“An easing credit environment has also fed into this momentum, with private sector credit growth surging sharply compared with the same period last year – a trend the MPC expects to further boost economic activity going forward,” he stated.
The cedis has remained relatively stable against the major currencies.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s export earnings rose to US$18.29 billion in the first six months of 2026, driven largely by higher gold exports, Bank of Ghana (BoG) data have shown.
The increase helped widen the country’s trade surplus to US$8.81 billion at the end of June 2026, from US$5.76 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.
According to the BoG data, total export earnings increased by US$4.50 billion from US$13.79 billion recorded during the first half of 2025.
Gold exports generated US$12.50 billion between January and June 2026, compared with US$8.39 billion in the same period last year, making the commodity Ghana’s largest export and accounting for more than two-thirds of total export receipts.
Cocoa export earnings rose to US$2.29 billion from US$2.17 billion, while crude oil exports increased to US$1.71 billion from US$1.36 billion.
Receipts from other exports, however, declined marginally to US$1.79 billion from US$1.88 billion during the review period.
GNA