The government has accumulated no new arrears since 2025, with every expenditure incurred in 2025 and so far in 2026 paid for, according to Frederick Amissah, Technical Adviser to the Ministry of Finance.
Amissah said the government has put measures in place to prevent the accumulation of fresh arrears while working to clear outstanding obligations inherited when it took office.
He made the remarks during a roundtable discussion at the Chartered Institute of Bankers Ghana (CIB Ghana) Post-MPC Policy Seminar, followed by The High Street Journal.
“When this government took over in 2025, we’re confronted with arrears of 68.8 billion Ghana cities,” Amissah said.
He explained that the government first subjected the inherited claims to a validation process to determine which obligations were legitimate and supported by the required documentation.
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According to him, GH¢10.4 billion of the inherited claims were rejected after the validation exercise because, among other reasons, some works had not been done or the documentation required to support the claims was unavailable.
The government subsequently identified about GH¢47 billion in validated arrears for payment and committed to clearing the obligations over four years.
Amissah said significant progress has since been made in settling those inherited obligations, with about GH¢30 billion paid in 2025 and another GH¢6.5 billion paid in 2026.
This means nearly GH¢37 billion of the validated arrears had been paid at the time of his remarks.
While clearing the inherited arrears, Amissah said the government has also sought to ensure that new expenditure does not create another accumulation of unpaid obligations.
“In 2025 … every expenditure that we incurred was paid for. So the arrears in 2025 was zero,” he said.
He said the same position applies to expenditure incurred so far in 2026.
“As we speak in 2026, every expenditure we have actually incurred, we have paid for. So in 2026, the arrears is what? Zero,” Amissah said.
The government’s effort to prevent new arrears is significant for contractors and the banking sector, as contractors often rely on bank financing to execute government projects.
When government payments are delayed, contractors can struggle to service their loans, potentially leaving banks with non-performing loans.
Amissah said the Ministry of Finance has therefore introduced tighter controls over government commitments, including a requirement for agencies to obtain Commitment Authorisation before entering into contracts.
The authorisation is intended to establish that a project has an approved budget and that funds are available to meet the government’s payment obligations.
He said the government wants to create a system in which contractors may face tighter conditions before securing public contracts but have greater certainty of payment once a contract is awarded.
“We want to enter a regime where it is difficult to get a government contract, but you are assured that when you get a government project, you will be paid,” he said.
The approach, Amissah said, is intended to prevent government agencies from creating financial obligations without a clear plan for how those obligations will be settled.
