Professor Issahaku Haruna, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Finance of the University for Development Studies (UDS), has urged government to strengthen fiscal discipline.

He said government should resist the temptations of premature return to costly borrowing to sustain the country’s economic recovery.

He made the call at a public lecture under the theme: “The State of Ghana’s Economy and the Role of Journalism.”

It was organised by the Journalism Students Association of Ghana of the UDS at Nyankpala in the Northern Region.

The lecture brought together students, lecturers, public officials, and the media to enhance their understanding of sound economic management and strong independent journalism towards promoting national development.

Professor Haruna, who made a presentation on the immediate past, present and future outlook of Ghana’s economy, said that although recent recovery efforts had brought some stability, weak fiscal management could quickly reverse the gains made.

He traced the country’s economic trajectory from a period of relative pre-crisis stability through severe fiscal and debt challenges to ongoing recovery interventions, noting that sustaining growth required tough but necessary reforms.

Professor Haruna advocated debt re-profiling to reduce interest burdens, expansion of domestic revenue mobilisation and broadening of the tax base without overburdening already compliant taxpayers.

He called for accelerated structural reforms to unlock productivity, improve public financial management, and build resilience in the external sector to cushion the economy against future shocks.

Mr Attah Issah, Member of Parliament for Sagnarigu Constituency, emphasised the need for strong economic and financial journalism to support accountability and informed public debate.

He underscored the need for government and other institutions to prioritise supporting journalists to pursue specialised training on economics and finance to better understand complex concepts and policy language, saying this would enable them to interpret and explain economic issues clearly to members of the public.

Mr Issah said an informed citizenry depended on journalists, who could translate economic data and policy decisions into messages that resonated with everyday realities, thereby strengthening transparency, accountability, and good governance.