Former Finance Minister and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has accused the government of rebranding its 24-Hour Economy programme as the New Economy.
According to the Caucus, this unapologetic repackaging was done without providing a convincing account of the earlier initiative’s performance.
Addressing the media on Friday in his response to the 2027 Budget, Dr Amin Adam argued that several components of the New Economy programme closely resemble projects and policy pillars previously announced under the 24-Hour Economy initiative.
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According to him, six of the eight pillars of the New Economy correspond with programmes contained in the earlier 24-Hour Economy framework.
These include financing, agriculture, textiles and pharmaceuticals, tourism, technology and energy.
He claimed that the government has moved existing commitments into a newly branded programme without adequately explaining what has happened to the original projects or the investment targets attached to them.
Dr Amin Adam questioned why the government is introducing a US$10 billion New Economy programme when it had not provided a sufficiently detailed account of the financing and implementation of the earlier US$4 billion 24-Hour Economy initiative.
He also raised concerns about the continued allocation of GH¢165 million to the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat, despite what he described as the transfer of its programme responsibilities into the New Economy.
The former Finance Minister pointed to changes in the programme’s indicative funding.
He said, “The 2027 Budget provides GH¢30.9 billion for 2028, compared with GH¢53.4 billion indicated in the earlier Fiscal Strategy Document.”
“That represents a reduction of GH¢22.5 billion before the programme has fully commenced.”
The government has described the New Economy as a four-year economic transformation programme, with a planned investment of US$10 billion between 2027 and 2030.
It says the initiative will support productive infrastructure, industry, exports and employment.
However, Dr Amin Adam stressed that the government must first account for the commitments and projects announced under the previous programme.
He argued that changing the name of an economic programme does not resolve the challenges of financing, implementation and accountability.
For the Minority, he said, the central issue is whether the government can demonstrate measurable results from its existing commitments before asking Ghanaians to support another ambitious economic agenda.