Former Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has accused the current Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, of misleading Ghanaians with the expenditure figures he quoted in the 2025 Budget Statement and Economic Policy.
He says the Minister inflated the expenditure figure by GH¢49.2 billion just to create disaffection for the previous administration.
Speaking at a press conference held by the Minority Caucus Thursday, March 13, 2025, he indicated that the facts of the Budget presented by the Finance Minister has credibility issues.
He stated that although the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration left a strong revenue performance and prudent expenditure management, the budget data suggested an exaggerated fiscal deficit of 7.6% of GDP and a primary deficit of 3.6% of GDP.
“An economy with such strong revenue performance and expenditure management as we have seen from the data in the budget cannot produce the kind of elevated fiscal outturns the Minister announced,” he stated.
On the claims of the government making false claims to damage the Akufo-Addo government’s reputation, he said “they have erroneously churned out wrong data in a bid to tarnish the image of the NPP administration by including GH¢49.2 billion in expenditure claims without any basis.”
He stressed that such distortions put the credibility of the country’s fiscal data into question.
The former Finance Minister called on the government to provide clear justifications for the expenditure claims and urged Ghanaians to scrutinise the figures presented.
He warned that any attempt to manipulate data for political gain would have long-term consequences on investor confidence and Ghana’s economic outlook.
2025 Budget: Mahama has restored public’s hope in the political class – Sammy Gyamfi
