The Institute of Public Policy and Accountability (IPPA) has stated that Ghana’s macroeconomic recovery did not begin in 2025 but was already taking shape due to earlier reforms.

According to the institute, all macroeconomic indicators showed remarkable improvement in 2024.

It said the Public Debt-to-Gross Domestic Product Ratio had already declined significantly from 78.5% in 2021 to 61.8% in 2024, GDP growth improved from 0.5% in 2020 to 5.7% in 2024, Gross Reserves rose substantially from US$4.8 billion in 2016 to nearly US$9 billion by December 2024 and Inflation fell notably from 31.9% in 2022 to 22.9% by December 2024.

In it critique of the 2026 Budget, IPPA’s analysis led by Kwasi Nyame-Baafi, however commended within the framework of the IMF-supported programme.

“Policy continuity in fiscal consolidation, debt restructuring, and monetary coordination remains essential for stabilising the Ghanaian economy. This has yielded remarkable improvement in the macroeconomic indicators in the 2025 fiscal year. Real GDP growth for 2025 stood at 6.3%, inflation fell from 23.8% in 2024 to a single digit of 8.0% in 2025, and public debt declined sharply from 69.0% of GDP to 45%, a favourable trajectory which has already begun well before 2025”, it mentioned.

It however noted that the much touted “Resetting for growth, jobs and economic transformation” failed to live up to expectation.

It added that key macroeconomic targets for 2026 fiscal year signals modest ambition and less likely to substantially transform the economy to generate the needed jobs.

Finally, it stressed that based on its assessment, there are still significant challenges with budget design and fiscal credibility.

“Most notably, there is a lack of a coherent implementation framework for key policy initiatives, as well as evident weaknesses in budget credibility and capital expenditure execution, which suggest that even existing commitments are at risk of being underfunded or left unfulfilled”, it stated.