Former Minister of Finance Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has challenged Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson to account for how the government executed its 2026 budget before announcing a new one.
He set out a ‘fiscal test’ that he says Ghanaians should use to judge the 2027 Budget on Thursday, November 12.
The former Finance Minister and also MP for Karaga addressed the media in Parliament on Tuesday, and demanded a table of every major 2026 programme showing amounts budgeted, released and spent, plus outputs delivered; the current stock of arrears and payables, including unpaid Interim Payment Certificates; a full reconciliation of the rise in domestic debt; and an explanation for every figure where the Budget Speech and expenditure tables disagree.
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“A budget is a promise. The only honest way to judge a promise is to compare what was budgeted with what was released and spent,” Dr Amin Adam said.
He challenged the government “to dispute any figure he presents with a better one.”
Citing the government’s own figures, Dr. Amin Adam, who is also the Ranking Member of the Finance Committee in Parliament, said capital expenditure for January–September 2025 was GH¢10.9 billion against GH¢26.6 billion budgeted (a 59% shortfall), while arrears clearance for January–June 2025 reached GH¢4.8 billion of GH¢7.5 billion (36% shortfall).
According to him, no oil revenue (ABFA) has been disbursed to the Big Push by September 2025, despite Parliament dedicating all oil revenues and mineral royalties to the programme.
“A surplus achieved by not spending what Parliament approves is not fiscal discipline. It is a budget that has not been executed,” he said.
The government, he said, has awarded GH¢63 billion in road contracts under the Big Push against 2025 and 2026 allocations totalling GH¢43.8 billion, leaving at least GH¢19 billion of signed contracts without appropriated cash.
“This is precisely how arrears are created: contracts first, cash later.”
On debt, the former Minister said public debt rose from GH¢641.1 billion in December 2025 to GH¢733.9 billion in July 2026 – up GH¢92.8 billion in seven months, with domestic debt alone up GH¢62.9 billion – while the cash deficit is reported at about 0.6% of GDP (around GH¢10 billion).
He challenged the government to explain how much new borrowing went into the Sinking Fund and buffers, how much into arrears, and how much remains unaccounted for.
Dr. Amin Adam also flagged what he said are contradictions in the 2026 Budget: the Speech announced GH¢200 million for NAFCO while the ministry’s capex table showed GH¢105 million; on the 24-Hour Economy, the Speech cited GH¢110 million against GH¢90 million in the expenditure table.
He said NAFCO reported needing at least GH¢770 million to absorb over 200,000 tonnes of unsold maize and rice, with only GH¢100 million released, and asked how much of the promised 272,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser was actually delivered.
Dr. Amin Adam said the Minority Caucus would judge the budget by whether the government publishes a programme-by-programme spending table, the arrears stock, a debt reconciliation, and reconciled budget figures.