Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has urged the Ministry of Finance to sustain the country’s recent economic gains and guard against complacency.
She said the progress made in stabilising the economy must not be reversed in order to sustain the confidence of the citizenry.
“We look forward to sustaining the gains. That’s very important so we don’t slack. It’s only when we slack that we continue slacking and then before you know we are back to where we don’t want to be,” she said during a working visit to the ministry in Accra yesterday.
The Vice President commended officials of the ministry for steering the economy through what she described as a difficult period following the change of government in January 2025.
She said the government inherited a challenging economic situation and had to take difficult decisions to restore macroeconomic stability and rebuild public confidence.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said every public institution had a responsibility to support the government’s development agenda and improve the living conditions of Ghanaians.
Touching on the country’s debt burden, the Vice President said huge debt servicing obligations continued to consume resources that could otherwise be invested in education, healthcare, roads and other critical infrastructure.
“If all this money were not paid out, imagine the schools we’ll have, imagine the hospitals we’ll have, the quality of roads and the quality of care,” she stated.
The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, announced that government had paid GH¢400 million, representing the capital requirement for the proposed Women’s Development Bank, into an escrow account at the Bank of Ghana.
He said the payment would enable the central bank to begin the regulatory assessment required before granting approval for the bank to commence operations.
“We have paid GH¢400 million as the capitalisation amount into an escrow account at the Bank of Ghana. The Bank of Ghana is now beginning the assessment process required before granting approval for the bank to commence operations,” he said.
Dr Forson assured the Vice President that government remained committed to making the bank operational before the end of the year.
He explained that the next stage would involve the appointment of the bank’s governing board and management team, which formed part of the Bank of Ghana’s licensing requirements.
The Finance Minister said government had implemented difficult but necessary fiscal measures to restore economic stability, adding that the economy was beginning to respond positively.
He disclosed that Ghana had successfully paid US$1.4 billion in Eurobond debt this year and was preparing to meet another GH¢10 billion debt service obligation due in August.
Dr Forson said next year would present an even greater challenge, with about GH¢54 billion in debt repayments expected, including GH¢39 billion due in February alone.
According to him, government had begun building financial buffers to avoid another debt default while maintaining strict fiscal discipline for the remainder of the year.
He said the medium-term objective was to gradually ease the fiscal adjustment programme from 2027 to create more room for economic growth, private sector expansion and job creation.
BY AGNES OPOKU SARPONG
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
