Former Finance minister, Dr. Amin Adam addressing the press after the budget presentation
Member of Parliament for Karaga, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has criticized Minister of Finance Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson for altering economic data to misrepresent the economic situation inherited by the current government.
Speaking after the presentation of the 2025 Budget to Parliament on March 11, Dr. Amin Adam who is a former Minister of Finance stated that the figures presented by the Minister of Finance were altered to create a false sense of economic hardship.
“The fiscal programme was what the minister tried to use to misinform Ghanaians about the economy we handed over to them. The minister quoted a fiscal deficit on a commitment basis of about 8.3% and a primary balance deficit of 3.7%. Ladies and gentlemen, these are cooked figures. They have manipulated the data, and we know how they did it,” he stated.
He asserted that, in order to manipulate fiscal data and inflate the stated deficit, the government created a new line item called “unreleased claims,” amounting to GHC 49 billion.
“But I can tell you that we left a surplus balance. When we interrogate the data, Ghanaians will know that we left a surplus balance of 0.7% on a commitment basis,” he added.
The budget presented by Dr. Ato Forson outlined detailed intentions to increase the Growth and Sustainability Levy on mining corporations from 1% to 3% to optimize Ghana’s profits from the extractive industry. It also featured other strategic steps to promote national development, such as the reinstatement of road tolls on public roadways.
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Meanwhile, watch this Ghana Month special edition of People and Places as we hear the story of how the head of Kwame Nkrumah’s bronze statue was returned after 43 years, below:
