As the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy takes full effect, there is a commitment from the Economy and Development Committee of Parliament to track the real impact of the implementation on Ghanaians and the economy at large.
This commitment was made by the Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee of the House and the Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
For years, budget seasons in Ghana have followed a familiar pattern where big numbers are allocated, applause follows, and hopes are raised. But after the appropriations are approved, and the conversations die down, and the fiscal year slowly passes, many Ghanaians are left asking a simple question: What really changed?
But Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says this question will now sit at the very heart of the work on the Committee on Economy and Development.
In an exclusive interview with The High Street Journal, he revealed that the committee will go beyond approvals and promises to religiously track the real impact of government spending on the economy and on people’s lives.
From the Big Numbers to Real Results
The MP for Ofoase Ayirebi says the Committee will play a critical role in the budget year. He adds that the committee’s work starts even before money is spent. One key area of focus is the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), which helps the government set medium-term economic goals.
Among a number of roles, the committee will examine whether economic policies align with these national objectives and whether they are being followed through properly. If the government sets goals for growth, jobs, and stability, the Committee will check to see whether those goals are actually guiding decisions.
This, he said, is about ensuring policy consistency, not policy confusion.
He said, “First is to look at the work of the National Development Planning Commission in relation to the economic policy formulation, and how they are tracking and ensuring that the economic policy objectives that they have helped the government to set, which are part of our medium-term objectives, are being tracked.”
Watching Monetary Policy Closely
Another major area under scrutiny is monetary policy, the tools used by the Bank of Ghana to control inflation, interest rates, and money supply.
Oppong Nkrumah noted that the committee is paying close attention to how central bank managers are using these tools and how those choices affect the broader economy. Tracking this, he says, matters because monetary policy influences loan costs, business expansion, and the value of money in their pockets.
“Second is to look at monetary policy. And so you would have heard me extensively speak on the instruments of monetary policy that the current managers of the central bank are using,” he noted.
Connecting the Dots: Fiscal, Monetary, and the Real Economy
For the Ranking Member, what makes the committee’s approach different, he said, is its effort to connect policies across sectors. Instead of looking at fiscal policy, monetary policy, or the real sector in isolation, the committee examines how they work together.
The key focus is to check how these policies translate into stability, growth, jobs, and development. This means if government spending, central bank actions, and real sector policies are not producing these outcomes, then something is broken, no matter how impressive the plans look on paper.
Using agriculture as an example, he noted that voting billions to boost food production or poultry farming is meaningless if food prices do not fall and self-sufficiency is not achieved.
He added that the same logic applies to education. Ghana spends huge sums on the sector every year. But if that investment does not improve WASSCE pass rates, strengthen skills, and equip young people to solve problems and create jobs, then the spending has failed its purpose.
For the committee, outcomes matter more than announcements.
“What we do as a committee on Economy and Development is now to examine, okay, so we give GHC1.5 billion to increase food production, reduce food prices, and make ourselves sufficient in poultry. What is the progress? What is the outcome? Let’s see the impact,” he noted.
Public Hearings to Make a Difference
The committee is taking a further step to enforce this accountability. Oppong Nkrumah reveals that the Economy and Development Committee plans to hold public hearings, bringing ministries before Parliament not to explain how money was spent, but to show what impact it delivered.
This marks a shift from checking boxes to demanding evidence of progress. The ranking member says the big and beautiful numbers in the budget are no longer enough.
It is an established fact that Ghanaians want results they can feel in their farms, classrooms, businesses, and homes. And in 2026, Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee says it intends to make sure that every cedi voted is judged not by how loudly it was announced, but by how much it actually changed lives.
