Minority Warns of Rising Fiscal Risks as it Describes 2026 Budget as “Growthless And Jobless”
The Minority in Parliament has dismissed the 2026 Budget as inadequate and disconnected from Ghana’s pressing economic realities, describing it as “growthless, jobless, and minimalist.”
Addressing journalists on Friday, November 14, former Finance Minister and Member of Parliament, Dr Amin Adam, said the budget lacks the substance needed to restore confidence, spur investment, or support job creation.
“Ghana needs a better budget that strengthens revenue realism, expands productive investment, protects fiscal credibility, and enables the private sector to lead job creation. We can therefore describe the 2026 budget, the Galamsey budget, as growthless, jobless, and minimalist,” he said.
Dr Adam argued that the structure of the budget does not signal any major shift toward productivity, employment generation, or economic transformation. He maintained that investment levels remain muted, revenue expectations are overly ambitious, and debt pressures remain elevated.
“Investment levels remain low, revenue projections are overly optimistic, and borrowing pressures are high. Key fiscal risks are under-discussed. Flagship programmes lack transparency and clear budget commitment,” he noted.
He cautioned that the government’s emphasis on shrinking expenditure to project fiscal discipline could have adverse consequences.
“The lower GDP base and revenue shortfalls mechanically raise the debt-to-GDP ratio, even if the cash deficit is narrow. Sustainability requires sustained growth and credible revenue mobilisation, not austerity that undermines both,” he explained.
The Minority also pointed to what it described as concealed fiscal vulnerabilities, including uncovered government auctions, unattractive short-term debt maturities, and unquantified liabilities of state-owned enterprises beyond the cocoa and energy sectors. Dr Adam added that climate and disaster-related risks are not sufficiently integrated into the macro-fiscal framework.
“Without addressing these risks, fiscal stability could be short-lived. Policies without clear budget risk are becoming slogans rather than deliverable programmes,” he said.
He criticised the government’s broader economic management, arguing that the realities on the ground contradict the positive outlook presented by the Finance Minister.
“The state of the economy cannot be as good as the minister wants us to believe. It is associated with empty pockets, vanishing customers, sophisticated investors avoiding government auctions, and ministries struggling to function due to lack of basic resources.”
Dr Adam said the country requires “genuine economic leadership rather than broken promises, real fiscal discipline rather than opportunistic austerity, and a government that delivers results rather than excuses.”
“What we need is economic transformation, which Ghanaians were promised. But what we see now is economic stagnation masquerading as progress. The 2026 budget does not offer the hope needed to take us out of this,” he added.
