Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson said that market women’s worries, the effects of cedi devaluation, and the hardships of unpaid young influenced Ghana’s 2025 budget.
Following his March 11 presentation of the 2025 Budget to Parliament, Dr. Forson noted in an interview with Joy TV that he personally spoke with merchants at various marketplaces, including Makola, to learn about the financial struggles that Ghanaians confront.
“Almost everyone I spoke to in Makola Market, who were primarily women, told me that the exchange rate is currently Ghana’s largest issue. They can hold prices if we can stabilize the cedi,” he said.
He related how a trader was upset about the steep price increase.
A woman informed me that the cost of the cooking equipment she purchased increased from GH¢1,350 to GH¢1,750 in only three weeks. The store owner clarified that they had to raise prices as a hedge against exchange rate volatility, and that this experience had an impact on important budgetary choices.
Regarding young unemployment, Dr. Forson brought up the example of over 300 pharmacists who were working as of June 2023 but had not been paid.
He promised that the government will deal with these situations and allocated GH¢300 million for the National Apprenticeship Program, which will provide equipment and skills to young people in rural regions.
Dr. Forson also discussed the difficulty of project funding, pointing out that a lack of funding has caused several initiatives to halt.
According to him, the government has set aside GH¢13 billion to pay off existing debts while giving priority to projects that are 70–90% finished.
Regarding tax cuts, he clarified that there was no revenue deficit after the government eliminated five taxes, including the betting tax and e-levy.
“We discovered that money in the tax refund account had been misused. Just 43% of the money was used for tax refunds during the previous eight years; the remainder was misappropriated. We recovered GH¢3.8 billion by reallocating a portion of it,” he stated.
He emphasized that rather than only depending on economic theory, the 2025 Budget was created using actual experiences from traders and workers.
The majority of this nation’s top economists are market women. He said, “They have tried and tested things, and they are successful.”
Dr. Forson reassured Ghanaians that steps had been taken to promote enterprises, settle arrears, and stabilize the cedi. He also said the government will keep including the people in the formulation of economic policy.
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