THE Opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has questioned the sustainability and credibility of the government's fiscal performance ahead of the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review, urging the Finance Minister to provide detailed data to support the expected economic outlook.
Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Chairman of the NPP Policy Co-ordination Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said the party's assessment of official economic data suggested that the reported fiscal improvements were largely driven by expenditure cuts rather than stronger revenue performance.
He said the Minority would scrutinise the finance minister's statement in Parliament and compare it with the government's published data, insisting that Ghanaians deserved "numbers, not narrative."
The Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, is expected to present the Mid-Year Review of the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament today.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah, who is also the NPP Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, argued that although the government was expected to highlight a 2025 primary surplus of 2.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), revenue had fallen below target while expenditure had been significantly compressed.
According to him, first-quarter 2026 data also showed spending below budget, including reductions in capital expenditure, foreign-financed projects, goods and services, and grants to the health, education and district sectors, while the public sector wage bill remained protected.
He further questioned the current level of government arrears, citing figures previously announced by the finance minister, and called for an updated audited arrears stock and a clear payment schedule.
The NPP also expressed concern over first-quarter revenue performance, declining oil revenues and the feasibility of achieving the government's full-year revenue target without imposing additional taxes.
Sustainability concerns
On the durability of the government's fiscal position, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the expected transition from the International Monetary Fund's Extended Credit Facility to a Policy Coordination Instrument indicated that external policy oversight remained necessary.
He maintained that recent economic growth had been driven largely by high international gold prices rather than structural policy reforms and called for sensitivity analyses on the effects of changes in gold prices, fuel costs and the exchange rate.
The party also pointed to rising inflation, depreciation of the cedi, differing public debt figures published by the Bank of Ghana and the IMF, and losses reported by the central bank as issues requiring further explanation.
Transparency
The NPP further questioned the government’s announcements on releases for agriculture, implementation of the 24-Hour Economy policy, road contracts under the Big Push programme and job creation figures.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the party expected the Mid-Year Budget Review to provide detailed half-year expenditure figures, a breakdown of the primary surplus, reconciled debt statistics, verified employment figures, updated arrears data, a resolution plan for the Bank of Ghana's financial position and a financing strategy for the government's growth agenda.
