By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Accra, Nov. 13, GNA – Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, Member of Parliament for Karaga and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, has described the Government’s flagship New Economy policy as a repackaged version of the 24-Hour Economy programme.
He argued that the policy offered little prospect of addressing Ghana’s immediate economic challenges and meeting the urgent employment needs of the youth.
Speaking at a press conference in Parliament on Friday in reaction to the 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, Dr Amin Adam said six of the eight pillars of the New Economy policy were already contained in the Government’s 24-Hour Economy framework.
“The New Economy is dead on arrival and full of deception. It promises jobs in 2030 when the youth need jobs now,” he stated.
He maintained that the policy was merely a rebranding exercise intended to revive a programme that had failed to deliver on its objectives.
Dr Amin Adam questioned the Government’s capacity to mobilise the estimated US$10 billion required to implement the New Economy initiative, saying no clear financing plan had been presented.
According to him, the Government had been unable to raise the projected US$4 billion required for the implementation of the 24-Hour Economy programme and therefore lacked credibility to finance the larger New Economy agenda.
The Ranking Member also challenged the Government’s assertion that the programme would not be funded through borrowing, citing the 2027 Budget’s projection of GH¢85 billion in domestic borrowing.
“If the government says it will not borrow to undertake these projects, then Ghanaians must ask why it intends to raise GH¢85 billion from the domestic market in 2027,” he said.
Dr Amin Adam acknowledged improvements in some macroeconomic indicators but argued that the gains had not translated into improved living conditions for ordinary Ghanaians.
He described the situation as a “paper economy”, contending that positive macroeconomic figures were disconnected from the realities faced by households and businesses.
“They live on what is in their pockets, on the price of rice, on the fare to work and on whether their children can find a job,” Dr Amin Adam pointed out.
He further argued that despite declining inflation and improvements in other economic indicators, many citizens continued to grapple with high transport fares, electricity tariffs, and fuel prices.
Dr Amin Adam criticised what he termed inadequate measures to address youth unemployment, saying the New Economy programme was structured as a medium-term initiative whose major projects would only begin yielding significant results between 2028 and 2032.
He said the Budget failed to provide a credible response to the immediate demand for jobs and improved livelihoods, which remained a major concern for many Ghanaians.
The Karaga MP also raised concerns about the Government’s revenue mobilisation measures, arguing that increases in fees, charges and taxes would impose additional burdens on households and businesses.
He said the Minority would, in the coming days, present a detailed analysis of the 2027 Budget Statement to highlight what it considered gaps and inconsistencies in the Government’s economic policy direction.
On Thursday, November 12, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Minister of Finance, presented the 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament on the theme: “The New Economy, New Ghana, Jobs and Prosperity.”
The Budget outlines a shift from economic stabilisation and recovery towards structural transformation, industrialisation and job creation, with targets of about eight per cent real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and unemployment below eight per cent by 2030.
GNA
Edited by Lydia Kukua Asamoah
13 November 2026
Reporter: Godwill Arthur-Mensah
Email: [email protected]