News Guide Africa

Tag: mid-year budget review

  • Education sector is biggest beneficiary of Mahama’s first six months in office

    Education sector is biggest beneficiary of Mahama’s first six months in office

    As President John Dramani Mahama’s administration accounts to Ghanaians on his stewardship in the first six months in office, the education sector has been the biggest beneficiary in programs and initiatives execution.

    During the presentation of the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Statement to Parliament last, the Finance Minister listed a number of initiatives and programs executed under various sectors of the economy.

    The education sector seems to have gotten the best of the President Mahama administration’s attention with numerous interventions executed to reposition the education sector as the soul of the country’s socio-economic advancement.

    Some of the initiatives executed have included payments for: tuition fees for first year tertiary students; Arrears of Nursing trainee allowances; School feeding per child budget increased; Capitation grant arrears cleared up to current term; and Quality of meals in High schools improved as quality and quantity of food supplied is monitored and ensured.

    Others include: Free SHS budget allocations increased with dedicated source of funding; All District assemblies directed to build a Nursery, Primary, JHS from their 2025 common fund; Preparation advanced to complete all stalled E-Blocks; 60 private schools included in the Free SHS among other initiatives.

    Meanwhile, Dr Ato Forson addressed criticisms suggesting that the government was not investing enough in critical sectors of the economy, clarifying that, substantial payments have been made across various priority areas since the beginning of 2025.

    He strongly defended the Mahama administration’s spending record, insisting that the government is not only spending, but doing so in areas that directly benefit the economy and improve the lives of Ghanaians.

    “Rt. Hon. Speaker, contrary to the perception that we are not spending, we are indeed spending—and spending at the right places. We are making the right investments,” he said.

    Outlining a comprehensive list of disbursements made from the Consolidated Fund between January and June 2025, Dr. Forson revealed that a total of GH¢114.5 billion in cash had been spent, with non-interest expenditures alone amounting to GH¢84.2 billion.

    Key payments have included:

    US$700 million to settle Eurobond obligations

    GH¢10 billion to domestic bondholders

    GH¢2.9 billion to the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF)

    GH¢2.7 billion to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT)

    GH¢9.1 billion to support the energy sector for stable power supply

    GH¢5 billion for the clearance of arrears

    GH¢4.6 billion to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund)

    GH¢1 billion to support the Free Secondary Education programme

    GH¢4.6 billion to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to buy vitamins and supplements

    GH¢1.4 billion to settle NHIS claims

    GH¢252 million for the procurement of vaccines and essential medicines

    GH¢72.8 million for Capitation Grants

    GH¢477 million to support beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme

    GH¢895 million to the School Feeding Programme

    GH¢122.8 million to cover BECE registration

    GH¢300 million for the No Fee Stress Policy

    GH¢191.7 million for Teacher Training Allowances

    GH¢462.6 million for Nursing Training Allowances

    GH¢25 million to pay Assembly Members’ allowances

    GH¢21 million to support the National Apprenticeship Programme

    GH¢34.5 million to the Adwumawura Programme

    About GH¢2 billion to support the operations of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies

    About GH¢2 billion to recapitalise the National Investment Bank (NIB)

    Dr. Forson emphasized that these payments reflect the government’s commitment to maintaining fiscal discipline while delivering essential public services and protecting social interventions.

    He concluded by reaffirming the Mahama administration’s resolve to reset the economy for inclusive growth, stressing that “we are spending wisely, targeting the sectors that matter most to our people and our future.”

  • Gov’t courts confidence of Ghanaians amid caution against premature pump and pagentry

    Gov’t courts confidence of Ghanaians amid caution against premature pump and pagentry

    The President John Dramani Mahama government has rallied Ghanaians to remain resolute and have confidence in the country’s economic recovery efforts, assuring better standards of living ahead.

    The Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, during the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Statement presentation to Parliament, last week, expressed optimism about the future of the Ghanaian economy, noting that ongoing reforms are laying the foundation for sustained growth, job creation, and renewed investor confidence.

    However, the Minister acknowledged that, while Ghana is not yet fully recovered from its economic challenges, there are clear signs of progress.

    “Mr. Speaker, as we look forward, more jobs will be created, confidence will deepen, and the Ghanaian economy will stand tall again—not just in the sub-region, but on the global stage,” he said.

    “To do this, Mr. Speaker, we must stay united as a people and eschew divisiveness. We must continue to have faith in our country, Ghana!”

    Dr Ato Forson appreciated the sacrifices made by various segments of society during recent economic challenges including businesses and ordinary citizens.

    “We understand businesses went through some sacrifices during the turbulent economic challenges, but so did the ordinary Ghanaian,” he noted.

    He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to pursuing inclusive growth strategies and policies that would ensure shared prosperity for all Ghanaians.

    Dr Ato Forson further reechoed the scale of the crisis inherited by the current administration but assured Ghanaians that recovery efforts are yielding results.

    “Mr. Speaker, there is still more work to be done. President Mahama is determined to deliver,” he declared while blending optimism with realism as he warned against premature celebration.

    “We are not out of the woods! It will be premature to make that pronouncement,” he said.

    With a firm commitment to stabilising the economy, the government says it is focused on restoring investor confidence, protecting livelihoods, and laying the foundation for long-term growth.

    “Insha Allah, President John Mahama will deliver” the Finance Minister added.

     

  • Mid-Year budget to clarify road contractor payments – Ampem Nyarko

    Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, has announced that the government will provide detailed clarity on payments owed to road contractors in the upcoming mid-year budget review.

    The move is part of broader efforts to manage arrears and uphold fiscal discipline amid rising concerns in the construction sector over delayed payments.

    Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, July 2, Mr. Ampem Nyarko explained that a comprehensive audit of outstanding arrears has been completed by the Auditor-General in collaboration with top accounting firms. The findings, he said, revealed that some claims had been disallowed.

    “All these will be programmed in our budget. Now, the auditor general and the top accounting firms that did the auditing of the arrears have already brought some reports that have indicated that some of the amounts are being disallowed,” he said.

    He added, “So, in the mid-year budget review, Dr. Forson will report on that, and we will indicate what the audited arrears are. Then, we will also indicate the plans to clear them.”

    According to Mr. Nyarko, the government has already earmarked GHc 13 billion for arrears clearance in the 2025 fiscal year and is committed to pursuing it “religiously.”

    “Already, we have made plans for Gh¢13 billion, which we are religiously pursuing this year. In next year’s budget, we will announce another amount,” he noted.

    He further stated that allocations in the 2026 budget will support continued arrears payments, while stressing that the government is determined not to repeat past mistakes.

    “That is why we are managing the financing so well that we do not have arrears build-up, and we have given commitment authorisation so that we don’t spend above what has been budgeted for the year,” he said.

    Mr. Nyarko also criticised the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration’s fiscal approach, which he claimed led to unsustainable debt accumulation.

    “Because if we go the way they [NPP] did, we will be clearing the arrears, and we will not be building up more arrears. That is not how to manage an economy,” he argued.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Mid-year budget review to be presented this week

    Mid-year budget review to be presented this week

    Adnan Adams Mohammed

    The Finance Minister, this week present the mid-year budget review to Parliament.

    As government has initiated discussion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), many Ghanaians and policy analyst expect tough economic policy changes, especially with cutting down on expenditure and possible cancellation of many social intervention programs as well as how to increase domestic revenue generation.  

    The government indicated it has started an engagement with the IMF to seek ‘balance of payment support’ as part of a broader effort to quicken Ghana’s build back in the face of challenges induced by the Covid-19 pandemic and, recently, the Russia Ukraine crises.” The Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) has once again underscored the need for government to review the tax exemption regime to curtail revenue losses in the mid-year budget.

    According to the Association, there is a lack of urgency in the way the exemption bill is being treated despite indications that the government’s latest revenue generation strategy, the electronic transfer levy, is woefully failing to meet government targets.

    “We find it difficult to understand why they are still not being able to revise the tax exemption policy. It is not helping anybody, including the government. We need taxes to grow, and the tax exemption policy has not helped”,  President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng said in an interview last week.  “If anything, it has not helped to create employment. This tax exemption is going to help foreigners. What do we have to show if it doesn’t reflect on employment creation? It needs to be looked at as soon as possible, especially as government is going to the IMF program. They should rethink through and do something about it.”

    The call by GUTA follows calls by many stakeholders to government to put in place measures to ensure the State is not deprived of billions of cedis, through tax exemptions every year.

    The Tax Exemptions Bill was laid in Parliament in the first quarter of 2019 to, among other things, “rationalise the current exemptions regime on taxes, levies, fees and charges by varying, where necessary, and consolidating existing statutory provisions on tax and other exemptions and to provide for the administration of exemptions”.

    But since then, nothing has been done. In November last year, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen, announced that plans were far advanced for the passage of the Tax Exemptions Bill.

    According to him, Cabinet is deliberating on the final draft of the Bill.

    Already, data from the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), shows that Ghana loses over GHC 5 billion every year through tax exemptions alone.