The 2026 budget will go down in history as a budget that resonates with the Ghanaian citizens.
It gives an economic transformational feeling and deepens the faith of many in the John Dramani Mahama government's ability to deliver its promises (Building the Ghana We Want).
Revenue
Revenue generation has been a headache for past governments. The government largely relies on taxes and borrowing many times to generate revenue. The government in 2026 has projected Ghc 286.1 billion, consisting of tax Ghc 216.2 billion. In the same year, the government abolished the COVID-19 tax, reformed VAT, increased the VAT threshold from Ghc 200,000 to Ghc 750,000 annual turnover, and many more.
The government has reformed taxes to be burdensome on citizens, including the COVID-19 levy in 2026, which brings in Ghc 3.7 billion. This means the government is giving Ghc 3.7 billion back to Ghanaians. Are you not surprised? In a country where tax revenue constitutes a major part of total revenue, the government is abolishing taxes and reducing some. The magic is on fiscal consolidation and tax compliance, strategic exemption policy etc
Tax exemption has since become a problem for governments due to the importance of some businesses ( Foreign Direct Investment, FDI) in areas of interest to the economy.
Value Added Tax (VAT) will be enforced to reflect its purpose. Hence, GETFund (2.5%) and NHIL (2.5%), which were attached to the VAT rate to be applied directly to goods and services, will be added to the VAT rate and apply as such. This will reduce the amount of taxes citizens pay and the number of taxes on goods and services.
Small businesses have a breathing space in 2026 and beyond to operate without withholding VAT. The government has increased the annual turnover (Profit) of businesses to be caught on the VAT web from Ghc 200,000 to Ghc 750,000. VAT restructuring alone gives back Ghc 5.7 billion to individuals and businesses to cushion their activities.
Other revenue strategies are: closure of revenue leakages at the port by looking at the issues in classification, valuation and cargo inspection. Closely monitoring foreign tax cooperation, re-examine customs tax to add most of the existing tax exercises in one platform to make it clearer and simpler for implementation.
The government has shown commitment to its budget for the year 2025 and has an intention of staying financially disciplined. Hence, priority areas of expenditure in 2026 are roads, energy and education, aside from the legacy programmes and projects.
The government intends to ensure every cedi spent is not wasted but also accounted for. The government will set up the Value for Money Office (VfMO) to monitor every project and programme on the amount spent and time used to ensure judicious use of scarce resources. This is the first of its kind under the Fourth Republic. The office will augment the audit services( internal and external) to deliver and prevent wastage.
The Procurement Act 2003(Act 663) will be reviewed to reflect current inflation and the value of currency. This will allow entity heads a room to approve certain projects or goods and services after going through the necessary processes required without concurrent approval at the top. Purchasing power limit will be increased for entity heads. This will fast-track projects and programmes execution within the needed time.
The government intends to allocate part of the petroleum funds to be invested in Ghana's local market, i.e, energy infrastructure. This will ensure stable power to small-scale businesses and industries to increase productivity. The power sector is a profitable area which needs greater investment. The chain of supply of reliable power will be lifted from the production point to the distribution end (VRA, IPP, GRIDCo, ECG and NEDCo).
Government public debt management has been problematic over the years. Largely, foreign debts increase due to the cedi's depreciation. The government has since stabilised the cedi, and it has appreciated by 37% as of October 2025. This helps reduce public debt from Ghc 726.7 billion to Ghc 630.2 billion as at October 2025 a decline of 13.3%.
We will recall how the Nana Addo Bawumia government wickedly swindled citizens' invested idle funds on government bonds (DDEP). We have learnt in many cycles that the government's financial instruments are the safest investment and risk-free, yet the government, due to reckless spending and wastage, could not honour these poor citizens' investments when it was due. The government of John Dramani Mahama has shown commitment to paying and has further restructured the payment model going forward to prevent a borrowing spree and also reduce rollover risk. It will additionally create room for fiscal investment in productive areas.
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), as usual, will have the free field to spend their common fund with discretion. It is restricted by a formula to ensure prudent use of the funds and consistency.
The government, over the years, under Hon. Seth Emmanuel Terkpe(Financially adviser )and Hon. Stop Forson ( Minister for Finance and Economic Planning), have introduced a strategic debt settling engineering model (Sinking Fund). This creates a buffer for the amount borrowed to be settled without stress. This makes the country creditworthy and reduces pressure on future budgets.
"Legacy Projects/Programmes"
The government has carefully curated out projects and programmes that fuel economic growth and development.
-Big Push ($ 10 billion)
-Adumawure (Ghc 160 million) to build young entrepreneurs
-Farmer Service Centres ( to increase food production?
-24 hr economy ( an economic productivity 24/7)
-Youth employment
-Ghana Medical Trust Fund
-No fees stress( for first students at university)
-National Apprenticeship programme (Ghc 170 million) for technical and vocational skills development.
-NAIMOS (Galamsey fight) Ghc 150 million.
These social intervention policies are turning around the economic growth with various sectors of the economy aside from the individual ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) allocations for their core mandates.
Economic Performance Key Indicators
Remember the exchange rate: "You can do all the propaganda in the economy, but the exchange rate will expose you". The exchange rate in Ghana in 2025 has appreciated by 37% against the US dollar as of October 2025. This makes it the best in Africa in terms of currency performance. Kudos to the ministry of finance and the Bank of Ghana. Wonder cedis at 60 years it is still on its feet. Ghana exchange rate in 2024 ( 1USD=14.70) vrs 2025 (1USD=10.97).
Inflation as in 2024( 23.5%) as against 2025 (8%). Isn't it commendable that in the space of 10 months, the inflation has dropped from 23.5% to 8%?
Gross international reserve has since doubled from $ 6.8 billion in 2024 to $ 12 billion as of October 2025. ( Cocoa, Oli, Goldbod etc)
Public debt stood at Ghc 726.7 billion in 2024 and has since been reduced to Ghc 630.2 billion in 2025 ( cedi appreciation).
Fiscal deficit of 4.2% of GDP in 2024, as against 3.1% of GDP at the end of December 2025.
The government needs commendation for the successes achieved so far. All these are anchored on fiscal discipline(Fiscal and Monetary).
*Source:* Budget 2026
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