When the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, met the leadership of the Trades Union Congress last week, he gave the clearest signal yet of the direction of economic policy for the next phase.
The government’s New Economy agenda will prioritise the creation of decent jobs and the improvement of living standards for Ghanaian workers.
According to Dr Forson, the NDC Government’s manifesto identified economic stabilisation as its initial priority, with a transition to broader economic transformation to follow.
He explained that the government had now reached the stage where it could focus more directly on the microeconomy, particularly job creation and support for businesses.
This is a welcome shift in language, and we hope, in policy.
And it deserves careful interrogation.
For the past 21 months, the Ghanaian worker has borne the heaviest burden of stabilisation.
Inflation that peaked above 50 per cent ate deep into wages.
The Domestic Debt Exchange Programme haircut hit pensions and savings. Utility tariffs went up while real incomes went down.
The public sector hiring freeze left thousands of young graduates idle.
The teachers who are on strike today, the nurses, the civil servants — all have been told to tighten their belts in the name of restoring macroeconomic stability.
To their credit, workers and their unions have largely been patient.
The TUC accepted difficult negotiations. It understood that without stabilisation, there can be no sustainable jobs.
However, patience has a limit.
Stabilisation cannot be an end in itself.
It must lead to something better on the shop floor, in the market, and in the pay packet.
That is why Dr Forson’s statement matters.
If stabilisation has been about numbers — inflation rate, debt-to-GDP, primary balance, cedi stability — transformation must be about people: jobs, wages, and living costs.
The question is: how will this New Economy deliver decent jobs?
We see four tests by which Ghanaians, and the TUC, will judge this new agenda.
The first test is the definition of jobs. Ghana does not have a jobs problem in the sense of people doing nothing.
We have a decent jobs problem.
Our youth are hustling — riding Okada, selling on the street, doing casual work in warehouses and industrial areas.
What they lack is secure, well-paying, protected work with social security.
If the New Economy is to mean anything, it must move us away from precarious informal hustle to productive employment.
That means a clear strategy for manufacturing, agro-processing, construction and services where Ghana has comparative advantage.
We cannot create decent jobs by importing everything we consume.
The second is the link between the microeconomy and business support.
There is macroeconomic stability now.
When will we see a genuine review of the tax regime that punishes production?
The New Economy must include affordable credit, reliable power, and industrial policy that is actually implemented, not just announced.
The third is wages and living standards.
Creating jobs without improving wages is not transformation. Many workers are in jobs but remain poor.
The minimum wage, even after the recent adjustments, cannot support a family of four.
The cost of rent, food, transport and school fees has outpaced wages.
The TUC General Secretary’s hope that the New Economy will improve wages must be taken seriously.
The fourth test is inclusion and dialogue.
The decision by Dr Forson to meet the TUC and explain the agenda is commendable.
For too long, economic policy has been made in the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana, and announced to workers as a fait accompli.
If the New Economy is to succeed, it must be co-created with organised labour, employers, and civil society.
The unions know where the pain is.
They know where jobs are being lost.
They must have a seat at the table not just to welcome initiatives, but to shape them.
Dr Forson says the time has come to pivot to the micro economy.
We agree.
However, Ghanaians have heard about economic transformation before — from every government since independence.
What they need now is proof in their pockets and in their workplaces.
The New Economy must not be another slogan.
It must be the economy where a young graduate finds a decent job, where a worker’s salary can feed his family, where a small business can get a loan at a rate that does not kill it.
That is the standard by which the TUC and all Ghanaian workers will judge it.
