BY Daniel Bampoe
The Minority Ranking Member on Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has raised concerns on the government’s 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review, accusing Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson of failing to account for what he described as a staggering GH¢30 billion under-execution of the national budget, resulting in abandoned development projects, delayed recruitments and worsening hardship across the country.
Speaking during the debate on the Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament, the Ofoase-Ayirebi Member of Parliament argued that the Finance Minister had departed from the core purpose of the mid-year review as stipulated under Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, which requires the Minister to account to Parliament on how much of the government’s approved economic programme has been implemented and what remains outstanding.
According to Oppong Nkrumah, instead of providing a comprehensive assessment of the government’s performance halfway through the fiscal year, the Minister focused on defending his fiscal management while failing to explain why billions of cedis worth of projects and programmes approved in the budget had not been executed.
The former Information Minister dismissed government claims that the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review was historic because it did not seek parliamentary approval for additional spending.
Government communicators had argued that this was the first time a Finance Minister had presented a Mid-Year Budget Review without requesting supplementary resources.
However, Oppong Nkrumah described that narrative as misleading.
According to him, the real history being made was not the absence of a supplementary budget but the Minister’s failure to account for the implementation of the government’s own economic programme.
He maintained that the Mid-Year Budget Review itself exposes what he called massive underperformance.
Referring Members of Parliament to Appendix 2A of the budget document, Oppong Nkrumah argued that the figures show government had failed to execute programmes, projects and interventions worth approximately GH¢30 billion during the first half of the year.
He said the unspent amount represents development projects, employment opportunities and social intervention programmes that Ghanaians had been promised but were yet to see.
According to him, this explains why many Members of Parliament have little or no visible government projects taking place in their constituencies despite the promises contained in the 2026 Budget Statement.
He argued that government had significantly under-executed its own budget, leaving many communities without the infrastructure and public services they had anticipated.
Oppong Nkrumah also rejected the Finance Minister’s explanation that expenditure restraint was necessary because of the commitment under the IMF-supported programme to maintain a 1.5 per cent primary balance.
The Minority MP described that justification as fundamentally flawed.
According to him, the IMF fiscal target is intended to be achieved after implementing government’s approved policies and programmes—not by refusing to execute the budget itself.
He further criticised indications that government intends to reduce the primary balance target from 1.5 per cent to 0.5 per cent in 2027, arguing that such a move would amount to abandoning the fiscal discipline government currently claims to be pursuing.
Oppong Nkrumah suggested that the proposed reduction could be politically motivated as the country approaches another election cycle.
Instead of weakening fiscal targets, he argued, government should focus on strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation so that it can finance its development commitments without compromising fiscal stability.
The Minority Ranking Member linked the alleged under-execution of the budget directly to several national challenges currently confronting the country.
He cited the recent flooding disasters, arguing that inadequate expenditure on flood control and drainage projects had contributed to preventable loss of lives.
According to him, expenditure constraints meant critical interventions were delayed, with tragic consequences after floods reportedly claimed 34 lives while six others remained missing.
He also pointed to the agriculture sector, claiming that despite allocations for fertiliser and agricultural inputs, the Ministry responsible had indicated that the expected funds had not been fully released.
Oppong Nkrumah argued that the consequences are now being felt by ordinary Ghanaians through rising food prices.
He specifically referenced the increasing cost of tomatoes in local markets as evidence that failures in agricultural financing are translating directly into higher living costs.
The MP further accused government of slowing recruitment into the education and health sectors by withholding financial clearance.
He noted that although the Education Minister had publicly indicated the need to recruit tens of thousands of teachers, the necessary approvals had not been issued.
Similarly, he said the Health Minister had expressed the desire to recruit more health professionals but had been unable to proceed because of expenditure restrictions.
According to Oppong Nkrumah, thousands of qualified young Ghanaians remain unemployed because government is deliberately withholding recruitment approvals in an effort to present stronger fiscal numbers.
He argued that government’s insistence on maintaining favourable budget figures was coming at the expense of employment opportunities and improved public service delivery.
Touching on broader economic conditions, Oppong Nkrumah claimed that excessive monetary tightening had drained liquidity from the economy, leaving businesses and traders struggling.
He suggested that while inflation may be declining statistically, many businesses continue to experience weak demand because insufficient money is circulating within the economy.
The former Information Minister also accused government of failing to honour its campaign promise to reduce import duties, claiming that import costs had instead increased.
As he concluded his address, Oppong Nkrumah declared that the New Patriotic Party would adopt a different economic approach should it return to office.
Serving what he described as formal notice, he stated that an NPP government under the leadership of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia would pursue low inflation without imposing what he characterised as excessive sterilisation costs on the economy.
He further pledged that a future Bawumia administration would maintain exchange rate stability while avoiding the financial losses that, according to him, have been associated with the Bank of Ghana’s current policy operations.
