The Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has stated that Ghana’s decades-long economic expansion has failed to build the necessary resilience to shield citizens’ livelihoods from recurring shocks.
Delivering the 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy on the floor of Parliament, Dr. Forson pointed out that the nation’s developmental strides have been repeatedly derailed by economic instability, policy shifts, and constant crisis management.
While acknowledging that successive administrations have built infrastructure and businesses have expanded, the Finance Minister stressed that “Ghana has grown but has not built enough resilience into that growth.”
Backing his assessment with data, Dr. Forson revealed that although Ghana recorded an average real GDP growth of 5.2 per cent between 1990 and 2025, that headline figure masks deep-seated economic volatility.
He explained that the country’s over-reliance on raw commodities—specifically gold, cocoa, and oil—has left the economy vulnerable. According to him, extractive industries accounted for roughly 16 per cent of GDP growth over the past decade.
Consequently, while global commodity booms have temporarily boosted state revenue and national confidence, price slumps and lapses in fiscal discipline have consistently triggered economic distress, resulting in surging inflation, high interest rates, and dwindling investment.
The Minister further observed that this structural weakness has created a disconnect between macroeconomic figures and the daily realities of ordinary Ghanaians, noting that the national unemployment rate stood at approximately 12.8 per cent as of January 2025.
Dr. Forson concluded by emphasising that despite more than 30 years of economic expansion, the ultimate benchmark for measuring the success of any economy must be a tangible improvement in the quality of life of its people.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana