The government plans to increase the daily school feeding allocation for each child from GH₵1.50 to GH₵2.00.
Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson announced this adjustment as part of several initiatives that will be presented during his first budget presentation in Parliament on Tuesday, March 11.
He disclosed this information during a conversation on X Space, where he engaged with young people on social media to gather their concerns that will help shape the budget statement.
While speaking to social media influencer Kalyjay, Dr. Forson addressed issues related to the Ministry of Gender and the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP).
He was blunt that the current situation was nothing to write home about.
“Currently, the government of Ghana pays GH₵1.50 per child. Today, unfortunately, we will agree that this amount is too small and it can’t even buy one egg,” he insisted.
“I think I can broadly say that we intend to increase that to a minimum of two cedis per child per day,” he revealed, describing it as a ‘significant increase’, representing at least a 33% rise in the school feeding budget as an index to inflation.
Following his recent engagement with traders at Accra’s Central Business District on March 8, Dr Forson assured the public, particularly the youth, that their input would be taken into account in shaping government policies.
He dismissed suggestions that such engagements were merely symbolic and would not influence the final budget presentation scheduled for March 11.