Former Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam expressed strong concerns about the credibility of the 2025 budget presented by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
He accused Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson of manipulating figures to create a misleading picture of the country’s fiscal health.
Dr. Amin Adam highlighted significant discrepancies between the budget allocations presented in the appropriation bill and the actual figures outlined in the appendices.
Debating the 2025 Budget Statement and the Economic Policy of the Government in Parliament on Tuesday, March 18, the former Finance Minister noted that while the appropriation allocation for goods and services was set at GH¢ 6.9 billion, the appendices showed a requirement of GH¢22 billion, resulting in a funding gap of GH¢15 billion.
“I am wondering how the Minister is going to implement this budget when you have a funding shortfall for goods and services of GH¢15 billion. This is why I say that this budget lacks credibility,” Dr. Amin Adam stated.
Citing the budgetary allocations for educational priority initiatives, Dr. Amin Adam, also the MP for Karaga noted that while the total cost of free tuition, sanitary pads for students, and textbooks amounted to GH¢ 1.3 billion, only GH¢800 million was allocated in the appropriation bill, leaving a shortfall of GH¢506.7 million.
He also pointed to similar funding gaps in the agricultural sector where the Agriculture for Economic Transformation initiative was allocated GH¢1.5 billion in the budget’s narrative but only GH¢924 million was provided in the appendices, resulting in a deficit of GH¢575.6 million.
Dr. Amin Adam slammed the government’s approach to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, suggesting that the use of unaudited figures to determine fiscal balances compromises Ghana’s credibility on the international stage.
“This is not how we manage an economy. When you use unaudited data to drive figures based on which you make economic decisions, you damage the nation’s reputation,” he remarked.
The IMF, he said, had demanded an audit of the GH¢49 billion figure used in calculating the fiscal balances, raising doubts about the legitimacy of the government’s fiscal targets.
The former Finance Minister questioned the revenue projections for 2025, suggesting that the reliance on compliance measures for revenue generation lacks a strong foundation.
“This budget will not solve any problem; it will not provide the jobs and economic growth they are promising,” he stated.