Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has told Parliament that the government's fiscal correction programme reset primary expenditure from 18.7% of GDP in 2024 to 13.2% of GDP in 2025, a reduction he said was achieved without hurting economic growth.

Presenting the 2026 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review, Dr Forson said the 2025 budget reset expenditure to 2023 nominal levels, "eliminating wasteful spending that had weakened fiscal management over the years."

"The primary balance also improved from a deficit of 2.9% of GDP in 2024 to a surplus of 2.5% of GDP in 2025, placing public debt firmly on a downward trajectory," he said, describing the shift as sending "an unmistakable signal to Ghanaians, investors, and other development partners that fiscal discipline is the new order."

He said government had recalibrated its IMF-supported programme, moving the emphasis from revenue-led to expenditure-led consolidation, which he described as a fairer distribution of the adjustment burden. Parliament also amended the Public Financial Management Act to institutionalise a binding fiscal rule requiring a minimum annual primary surplus of 1.5% of GDP and a debt-to-GDP ceiling of 45% by 2034.

Dr Forson listed a series of accompanying institutional reforms: the establishment of a Value for Money Office to strengthen expenditure efficiency, the creation of a Fiscal Council for oversight and transparency, a comprehensive audit of government payables, and amendments to the Public Procurement Act requiring commitment authorisation before procurement.

On the size of government itself, he said the number of ministers was reduced from a peak of 123 to 60, and the number of ministries cut from 30 to 23.

"A leaner government is not merely good politics, but is also a sound fiscal policy," he said. Government also curtailed non-essential spending on foreign travel, workshops, conferences and vehicle procurement, and discontinued the Ghana CARES top-up and U-Start programmes to redirect resources to other priorities.