The Minority in Parliament has voiced concerns over the 2025 budget’s failure to provide a detailed plan for the much-discussed 24-hour economy, describing it as a missed opportunity for Ghanaians.
Despite significant public attention and expectations, the budget lacked any concrete provisions or funding for the initiative.
Instead, the Finance Minister stated that the policy would be launched in the future, leaving the implementation uncertain.
The Minority expressed doubt that the promise would materialize before 2026, raising questions about the government’s commitment to fulfilling this key campaign pledge.
In contrast to the NPP’s swift implementation of the Free SHS policy during President Akufo-Addo’s first budget in 2017, the Minority expressed concern that the NDC government is not prioritizing its own flagship promises with similar urgency.
The absence of adequate funding and unclear expenditure projections, especially regarding the impact of the 24-hour economy on the wage bill, has led the Minority to question the credibility of the budget’s financial outlook.
The Minority also criticized the government’s expenditure decisions, particularly the uncapping of transfers to statutory funds. They objected to the allocation of the GETFund to finance Free SHS, labeling it an unoriginal and ineffective approach.
“While every government has discretion in funding programs, uncapping transfers to the GETFund for this purpose raises concerns about sustainability,” they stated.
Further scrutiny was placed on the allocation of the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) to the “Big Push” capital expenditure initiative.
The Minority argued that such financial decisions should be accompanied by amendments to the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA) or other relevant laws to ensure legal compliance and transparency.
