Dr Ato Forson (L) will be presenting the 2025 budget on behalf of President Mahama on March 11, 2025

The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, will be presenting the first Budget and Economic Policy of the John Dramani Mahama administration on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.

The minister will be presenting the 2025 Budget and Economic Policy on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 21 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).

Dr Ato Forson is expected to touch on the real state of Ghana’s economy and the policy objectives of the Mahama administration to tackle the country’s current economic challenges.

Here is a breakdown of some of the key things Dr Ato Forson would touch on:

Economy:

Finance minister Dr Ato Forson will certainly touch on the state of the economy that the Mahama administration inherited from the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.

President Mahama, during his State of the Nation address on February 27, 2025, indicated that the finance minister would be telling Ghanaians about the “criminally handled economy” he inherited from Akufo-Addo, which, according to him, is worse than he thought.

1. Debt

One of the things the minister would touch on is the country’s debt stance, which currently stands at around GH¢720 billion.

The country’s national debt before the Akufo-Addo government was less than GH¢100 billion.

Available data show that Ghana’s debt grew by more than 80% under the Akufo-Addo government.

On measures to address the current debt situation, Dr Ato Forson is expected to speak about the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) as well as the restructuring of the country’s external debts.

He is also expected to list a number of austere fiscal policies, including a drastic reduction in government expenditure in line with the implementation of the current International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout the country is undergoing.

2. Depreciation of the Ghana cedi

Dr Ato Forson is also expected to talk about the loss in the value of the country’s currency, the Ghana cedi (GH¢), under the Akufo-Addo government and the measures the Mahama government is putting in place to address it.

Before Mahama left office after his first term, the exchange rate of the Ghana cedi to a dollar was about GH¢4 to $1, but this rate increased to about GH¢16 to $1 under the Akufo-Addo administration.

The finance minister is expected to give details of Mahama’s Accelerated Export Development Council, which is aimed at tackling the depreciation of the Ghana cedi.

3. Inflation

Dr Ato Forson is also expected to talk about the astronomical increase in the prices of goods and services over the past few years.

Inflation, particularly food inflation, has been one of the main issues ordinary Ghanaians have been grappling with.

Over the past few years, the prices of food items have increased consistently by over 30%.

In addition to giving a history of inflation, the finance minister is also expected to outline ways his government intends to reduce or at least stabilise the prices of goods and services.

Social intervention policy:

Ghanaians would also be expecting to hear about the status of social intervention policies of the previous government as well as the ones the Mahama government has promised to implement.

1. Free SHS:

Dr Ato Forson would certainly be touching on the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme started by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.

The Free SHS programme was one of the subject matters of the National Education Forum, which brought together stakeholders in the educational sector to consider the way forward for the programme.

Although the president has promised to cancel Akufo-Addo’s flagship programme, Ghanaians would be expecting to hear how his government would handle the programme, given the difficulties in its implementation during the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo era.

2. No-Academic-Fee policy

The finance minister would also be touching on the ‘No Fee Stress’ policy, which is one of the major educational sector promises of President Mahama, aimed at waiving academic user facility fees for all first-year students in the country’s public tertiary education institutions.

Dr Ato Forson is likely to give details of how much the policy would cost the country and the number of students who would benefit from it.

3. Trainee allowances:

The minister is also likely to touch on the allowance given to teacher and nursing trainees.

The continuity of the allowance was also one of the subject matters of the National Educational Forum.

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has indicated that the government would decide on the allowance after the National Educational Forum, which has ended.

He indicated that the government cannot continue to pay for the feeding of tertiary education students.

4. NHIS:

Dr Ato Forson will also be touching on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), following President Mahama’s promise to uncap the National Health Insurance Levy.

The move, which has won President Mahama a lot of applause, would allow the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to use all the funds raised from the levy for the implementation of the scheme.

Taxes:

Taxes are also expected to feature heavily in the 2025 Budget and Economic Policy statement, given the promise to cancel several taxes by President Mahama.

The president promised, in the run-up to the 2024 election, to cancel a number of taxes, including the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), the Covid-19 Levy, 10% Levy on Bet Winnings, and the Emissions Levy.

In fact, President Mahama listed the cancellation of the taxes in his 120-day social contract with Ghanaians, where he stated that the taxes would be cancelled within 90 days of his being in office.

The cancellation of these taxes, which a number of experts have cautioned against, would certainly have an impact on the government’s revenue generation efforts. As such, Dr Ato Forson would be expected to announce some measures to offset the impact of the cancellation of the mentioned taxes.

Job Creation:

Job creation was one of the main promises of Mahama and would certainly be a key feature of the 2025 budget.

The president promised to launch the following priority job creation programmes in the first budget.

1. 24-Hour Economy policy:

Dr Ato Forson is expected to give more details on Mahama’s major campaign economic policy, the 24-Hour Economy policy, which is aimed at creating jobs for the youth of the country.

The finance minister is expected to give details on how the government intends to rope in the private sector in the implementation of the policy, the benefits the private sector is likely to get from the policy, and the amount of money the government would be investing in it.

The policy is geared at encouraging and supporting businesses and public organisations to operate 24/7 in three shifts of eight hours each to boost production, promote productivity, and generate well-paying jobs.

2. The ‘Adwumawura’ Programme

The minister would also be touching on the ‘Adwumawura’ Programme.

The programme is aimed at facilitating the creation, tracking, and mentoring of a minimum of 10,000 businesses annually, with a special focus on young people.

3. National Apprenticeship Programme

Dr Ato Forson will also be talking about the National Apprenticeship Programme, which is aimed at generating self-employment by providing free technical and vocational training for young people in various crafts.

Under the programme, trained apprentices will be issued with appropriate certification and supported with start-up capital and equipment to set up businesses.

BAI/WILLBK

In the meantime, catch the latest Twi News on GhanaWeb TV below:

Watch videos from the 68th Independence Day celebration below: