The Minority in Parliament has described the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review presented by the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, as deceptive and fraught with failed promises that would worsen the economic hardship of Ghanaians.Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, said rather than provide relief through the reduction or removal of taxes, the government had introduced several new levies, compounding the financial burden of the citizenry."This budget is full of deceptions and distortions.
It offers no real comfort to the average Ghanaian who is feeling the pinch of rising prices, unemployment, and deteriorating living conditions," he said.Dr Adam accused the Finance Minister of breaking promises made earlier in the year, citing the introduction of the so-called "Dumsor levy", which he claimed had added nearly GH¢4.00 to the price of a gallon of petrol, despite assurances to reduce fuel prices.He lamented that electricity tariffs had increased by a cumulative 17 per cent in the first half of the year, despite the Minister's previous pledges not to pass inefficiencies in the energy sector onto consumers.On the controversial Gold Purchase Programme (Goldbod), the Minority contended that the government had failed to adequately fund the initiative, resulting in the Bank of Ghana pre-financing purchases at unsustainable costs. "It is unfortunate that while small-scale miners suffer from low prices, the government boasts of US$5 billion in gold exports," he said.According to Dr Adam, the government's claims of improved international reserves and current account surplus were misleading."Out of the $11.12 billion in gross international reserves, $8.9 billion was inherited from the previous administration.
The actual addition is only $2.2 billion," he claimed, adding that the figures presented did not reflect the realities on the ground.He also accused the government of manipulating foreign exchange markets to maintain the cedi's value artificially, referencing an IMF statement that warned against excessive central bank interventions in the forex market."The real value of the cedi should be judged by its purchasing power," he stated, pointing to increases in prices of basic items such as bread, water, deodorant, and kenkey over the past seven months.Touching on debt management, Dr Adam said the government's claims of reducing the public debt-to-GDP ratio were disingenuous. "The reduction in debt is largely due to the debt restructuring initiated by the previous NPP administration, including $5 billion in cancelled debt and $4.7 billion in service savings," he said.He further criticised the government's wage bill management, rejecting claims that wage pressures were the result of NPP-era recruitments in 2024.
He stated that all such recruitments were approved by the Finance Ministry and factored into the 2025 Budget."If anything is driving up the wage bill, it is the numerous advisors and special assistants appointed by this government," he added.According to the Minority, Ghanaian workers have been left worse off, saying "While public sector wages went up by just 10 per cent, the government has increased taxes and tariffs.
