The finance minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has outrightly rejected claims that Ghana’s economic turnaround was a result of sheer luck without any deliberate policies.
The minister, in his presentation of the 2026 Mid-year Review to Parliament, emphasized that the progress the country sees today is a result of sterling economic management, which has pulled this masterclass.
This was in response to whispers from critics that Ghana’s recent success is merely a stroke of good fortune. However, the Minister was direct that the turnaround was not an accident.
“Sustainable economic recovery is built on good policy choices, competent economic management, and courageous leadership,” Dr. Forson declared, firmly debunking claims that the country’s gains were the product of chance or simply the result of an inherited IMF programme.
He attributed the impressive comeback to a deliberate three-pronged strategy he called the Key Transformational Policy Reforms (KTPs)
Fiscal Correction
The first pillar of the recovery was what the Minister termed “fiscal correction.” The objective when the President Mahama-led government assumed office was to take absolute control over public finances and stop the “binge borrowing” of the past.
The government reset public expenditure, leading to primary expenditure declining sharply from 18.7 percent of GDP in 2024 to 13.2 percent in 2025.
Crucially, for the first time, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) were brought under a Commitment Authorisation framework, meaning they can no longer spend money they don’t have and leave the taxpayer to pick up the bill.
Modernizing the Tax Regime
The second pillar focused on a radical shift in how the state collects money. Rather than squeezing the same group of taxpayers with higher rates, the government abolished nuisance taxes including the E-Levy, the Betting Tax, and the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy.
In addition, high-end technology was also deployed in addition to enforcement campaigns. For instance, by deploying the Publican AI Trade Solution, the government increased customs collections by 17.5 percent simply by catching importers who were undervaluing their goods.
“Better policy and smarter administration will always deliver more than higher taxes,” Dr. Forson noted, pointing out that non-oil tax revenue actually increased after the nuisance taxes were removed.
Complementary Fiscal Policy: The Gold Standard
The final pillar was the introduction of complementary policies to stabilize the cedi and fight inflation. Central to this was the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board, which successfully curbed smuggling and generated a staggering US$15 billion in foreign exchange inflows
This wasn’t just a gold policy; he says it was a macroeconomic shield that helped the cedi appreciate by over 40 percent in 2025, making it the world’s strongest-performing currency that year.
The Outcome: From “ICU” to “Wellness Centre”
The finance minister indicated that the impact of these strategies is glaring for all to see. For instance, he revealed that about 950,000 citizens have been moved out of multidimensional poverty in just one year. He adds that market traders and individuals’ purchasing power have stabilized as inflation tumbled from over 50 percent to just 5.3 percent
By achieving a statutory debt target of 45 percent of GDP years ahead of schedule, the Minister argued that Ghana has officially moved from the intensive-care unit to the wellness centre.
For him, the garden of stability is blooming not because of the weather, but because of the gardener’s discipline.
