As the Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson prepares to present Ghana’s 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy to Parliament tomorrow, it is emerging that public expectations are mainly focused on job creation and cost of living ease.
A pre-budget study released by the Centre for Economic Research and Policy Analysis (CERPA) reveals that citizens want government interventions that directly address daily financial struggles.
The survey report cited by The High Street Journal reveals that immediate economic relief, which are job creation and reducing the cost of living stand out as the twin pillars of public expectation across the nation. According to CERPA, an overwhelming majority of citizens demand that fiscal policy prioritize expanding employment opportunities and stabilizing prices for essential goods and services.
Jobs and Living Costs Dominate Public Demands
When asked to select their single highest priority for the upcoming budget, 74.2% of respondents chose either job creation, particularly for young people (39.9%), or lowering the cost of living (34.3%). The report was quick to add that no other issue exceeded 6% as a primary choice.
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When allowed to select up to three priorities, employment and the cost of living each registered at 64.8%, together accounting for nearly half of all selections.
While 43.4% of households reported that their finances improved over the past year compared to 22.3% reporting a decline, most gains were described as slight.
Concern over living costs remains intense because essential expenses like transport, fuel, and utilities continue to climb, even as headline inflation hit 5.5% in October 2026 while transport prices jumped 8.0%.
CERPA further indicated that priority emphasis varies across groups. For instance, job creation leads among students (50.9%), public servants (45.9%), and youth aged 18–34 (43.1%), whereas reducing living costs is the top concern for self-employed individuals (42.3%) and private-sector employees (38.5%).
SME Strain, Governance, and Policy Priorities
Beyond jobs and prices, findings highlight severe pressure on local business owners, who represent the main engine for employment creation. Self-employed respondents and business owners were the only group where more reported worsening finances (44.2%) than improvements (38.5%), with 51.9% rating the economy as poor or very poor.
Consequently, citizens linked job creation to enterprise support, cheap credit (13.4%), local industrial production (9.1%), and the 24-hour economy policy (4.8%). Other public priorities trailing the top two include infrastructure (23.9%), healthcare (23.6%), education (21.1%), and agriculture (16.4%)
Notably, traditional fiscal topics ranked lowest, including public debt (2.8%) and domestic revenue mobilization (4.1%).
However, governance emerged strongly, with 22.1% of respondents demanding government transparency, accountability, and decisive action against corruption and wasteful public expenditure.
Survey Scope and Research Methodology
The findings stem from a pre-budget study conducted by CERPA between 30 October and 10 November 2026. The research gathered 318 completed responses using closed-ended structured questions to quantify priorities alongside open-ended questions for qualitative recommendations
Demographically, 64.2% of respondents were aged 18–34, reflecting a strong youth presence. Occupational groups included private-sector workers (38.4%), public servants (19.2%), students (17.9%), and business owners (16.4%).
Geographically, 86.5% of participants were based in Greater Accra, while 13.5% were spread across ten other regions, with five regions unrepresented.
CERPA noted that because the survey used convenience sampling, the results represent the specific views of participants rather than a nationally representative sample.
