2026 budget must match government promises – Prof Bokpin warns

Economist Prof. Godfred Bokpin has cautioned that the government cannot continue on its current fiscal trajectory beyond 2025, insisting that the 2026 budget must reflect the promises made to Ghanaians.

Speaking in an interview, Prof. Bokpin said the government must begin aligning its fiscal plans with its commitments to the electorate.

“From 2026 and 2027, the government will have to operate its own budget, one that reflects, in large part, the promises it made,” he stressed.

He criticised the limited progress made so far in 2025, describing it as insufficient.

“We are not doing much this year. Stabilising the cedi is good news, to some extent, but we should be focused on building long-term confidence, not just managing short-term gains.”

According to Prof. Bokpin, sustainable growth requires accumulating enough reserves to maintain confidence in the economy for the next five to ten years.

He warned that the current model of expenditure-based fiscal consolidation cannot support the cedi or drive meaningful transformation over the long term.

“The 2026 budget will make this clear. We can’t stabilise the currency at the expense of real economic transformation that Ghana needs a coherent strategy that ties together interest rate management, export diversification, and lower borrowing costs,” he said.

He expressed concern that key policies are not working in sync: “We need to be sure all these elements are connected and mutually reinforcing if we’re serious about building a resilient economy”.

Prof. Bokpin also flagged the high cost of local production as a major competitiveness issue.

“For instance, from November 2023, inflation on imported goods rose higher than on locally produced goods. That tells you we were better off importing than producing domestically. That’s alarming.”

He warned that this trend threatens the viability of the local private sector and undermines Ghana’s industrialisation goals.

While acknowledging recent positive inflows that have helped stabilise the economy, Prof. Bokpin maintained that these are not enough without deeper reforms.