Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament's Economy and Development Committee, Tweneboah Kodua Fokuo, has questioned the government's celebration of a primary fiscal surplus, arguing that the achievement came after spending significantly less than what had been approved in the 2026 Budget.

Speaking on Joy FM's Newsnight after Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson presented the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review, Mr Kodua said that the government's reported primary surplus of about 1.4% of GDP should be viewed in the context of the lower-than-planned spending.

"You are declaring a surplus whilst actually the level of expenditure that you budgeted for, you didn't even reach at the minimum," he said.

According to him, the public deserves greater transparency on budget implementation, particularly how actual spending compares with approved allocations.

"These clarities are really necessary because you don't budget just for budgeting's sake," he said. "The question Ghanaians will be asking is: released against what? What did you budget for?"

The Manso Nkwanta MP said the government's expenditure performance should be assessed against its original budget commitments rather than the amounts it had released to ministries and agencies.

He was responding to the Finance Minister's rebuttal of claims by the Minority that the government had recorded one of its weakest expenditure performances in recent years.

According to Mr Kodua, simply listing the amounts released to various institutions does not provide the full picture.

"The comparison is about what you budgeted for originally and what you have released. Just narrating what has been spent didn't help. He should have told us that I budgeted for this amount and I've released that amount."

He argued that when the figures presented in the Mid-Year Budget Review are compared with the approved budget, they confirm the Minority's assertion that government spending fell well below target.

"When you really go through the whole presentation and make your calculations, you would realise that indeed the minister's expenditure fell short of his target by about 20%," he said.

Mr Kodua explained that while the government had budgeted to spend GH¢158 billion in the first quarter, the actual expenditure amounted to GH¢127 billion.

"The target to spend for Q1 was GH¢158 billion. The actual amount spent was GH¢127 billion. This is short of 20%. So what the Ranking Member said yesterday is being confirmed," he stated.

While acknowledging that spending less than budgeted is not inherently negative, he insisted that the government must explain why planned expenditures were not fully executed.

"You don't just budget. You budget because there was a need for you to fulfil. If you budgeted to spend on programmes such as Mahama Cares, which is about healthcare and human capital, and then you fall short of that expenditure, it raises legitimate questions."