The initiative comes alongside a GH¢207million allocation to rebase GDP
The government plans to speed up fiscal and economic decision-making by expanding the use of near–real-time growth data under a broader push to overhaul how the state produces, funds and applies official statistics.
The 2026 Budget will support the scaling up of the Monthly Indicator of Economic Growth, a high-frequency tool that officials say will allow policy-makers to respond to economic shifts up to 10 weeks faster than with traditional quarterly data.
The initiative comes alongside a GH¢207million allocation to rebase gross domestic product and consumer inflation, complete key national surveys and strengthen price and output measurement.
Deputy Finance Minister, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, said the shift places Ghana among a small group of countries using real-time indicators to guide economic management.
“This will support faster, evidence-based policy responses,” he said at the 2025 Annual Forum for Data Producers, Users and Enhancers in Accra.
Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu said faster data is now central to budgeting, planning and policy evaluation, as delays in official numbers weaken fiscal decisions and public accountability.
He said recent reforms, including the 2021 Fully Digital Population Census and the expansion of high-frequency welfare, labour and business surveys, have improved the speed and coverage of national data.
“Good policy is impossible without good data,” Dr. Iddrisu said, describing official statistics as the foundation of effective budgeting and performance management.
IFC moves to fix agric bottlenecks, widen digital access
Despite the gains, officials acknowledged that Ghana’s data ecosystem still faces structural weaknesses. Administrative data platforms across ministries, departments and agencies remain fragmented, while reliance on donor funding continues to expose the system to financing shocks.
To consolidate recent reforms, government is preparing its third National Strategy for the Development of Statistics, covering 2026 to 2030, alongside the Power of Data Initiative launched last year. The new framework is expected to align data production with national planning, budgeting and accountability systems.
One of the major reforms under the strategy is the planned integration of administrative data using the Ghana Card as a unique identifier. The Finance Ministry projects that the measure could cut future census costs by more than 70 percent while providing continuous population and sectoral updates rather than relying on decennial exercises.
Government is also reviewing the Statistical Service Act to strengthen the independence and authority of the Ghana Statistical Service, as official data becomes more central to fiscal policy, debt management and economic forecasting.
There is a sustained case being made for domestic financing of statistics, which positions data as core economic infrastructure on the same level as roads, energy and health systems. Global studies suggest that every dollar invested in data systems can yield significant returns through better-targeted public spending and stronger institutions.
“If we accept that data is a public good, then we must finance it like one,” Dr. Iddrisu said, urging predictable multi-year budget support for statistics across central and local government.
Beyond public funding, officials said the nation is exploring blended finance, results-based financing and public-private partnerships to support major data infrastructure. A proposed National Data Fund would pool contributions from government, donors and businesses, while sector ministries are expected to mainstream data financing into their budgets under ongoing public financial management reforms.
The forum also highlighted the growing use of advanced technologies such as geospatial analytics, artificial intelligence and satellite imagery in economic management, agriculture tracking and climate monitoring. Officials cautioned, however, that innovation without stable financing could weaken data quality over time.
Once fully scaled, the monthly growth indicator is expected to feed directly into budget execution reviews, fiscal adjustments and economic forecasting. For the government, the aim is to shift from reactive policy-making based on delayed reports to faster intervention guided by near-real-time evidence.
All you need to know about Ghana’s new vehicle number plates |BizTech:
