The government’s efforts to restore fiscal discipline have come at a significant cost, with an estimated GH¢30.7 billion in critical public spending left unfulfilled over the past 18 months despite stronger-than-expected improvements in Ghana’s fiscal position.
The Centre for Policy Scrutiny (CPS), which made the observation during its analysis of the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review in Accra on Tuesday, said the government’s expenditure-led fiscal consolidation strategy had strengthened macroeconomic stability but slowed the implementation of major development programmes and capital projects.
Presenting the Centre’s policy paper, the Executive Director, Dr. Adu Owusu Sarkodie, said the country’s improved fiscal indicators concealed serious shortcomings in budget execution.
“There is no doubting the benefits of the consolidation. The decrease in the deficit means a decrease in borrowing (as a share of GDP), fostering debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability,” he stated.
He, however, noted that the sharper-than-anticipated reduction in the fiscal deficit was largely achieved by spending less than budgeted, leaving many government projects without the required funding.
“Because the deficit fell by a greater amount than intended, largely as a result of actual expenditure being lower than planned, the consolidation left in its wake unfulfilled budgetary allocations. Hence, many MDAs could not undertake planned capital projects or make expected progress on them,” he explained.
According to the Centre, nearly 40 percent of the GH¢32.7 billion earmarked for capital expenditure in 2025 was not utilised. It added that during the first half of 2026, government failed to release about GH¢20.5 billion, representing 27 percent of programme-critical spending covering goods and services, capital expenditure, grants and social benefits.
The CPS estimated that the combined shortfall in programme-critical expenditure for 2025 and the first half of 2026 stood at approximately GH¢30.7 billion.
Dr. Sarkodie warned that the persistent spending gaps were weakening the implementation of government policies despite the country’s improving fiscal outlook.
“This is a material difference, whose implication is that many government programmes are being under-delivered, resulting in reduced outputs and outcomes in relation to set targets,” he said.
He cited the government’s flagship programmes as examples of the implementation challenge. According to him, 19.4 percent of the allocation for the Big Push programme in 2025 was not released, while 9 percent of its allocation remained outstanding in the first half of 2026.
Similarly, actual spending on the National Apprenticeship Programme in 2025 was 45 percent below its GH¢0.3 billion allocation, while expenditure on the Adwumawura Programme fell 20 percent short of its GH¢0.1 billion budget. “This persistent implementation gap suggests a challenge in budget execution,” Dr. Sarkodie added.
The Centre attributed the funding shortfalls partly to weaker-than-expected revenue mobilisation and significant underperformance in external project financing. It noted that only 15.8 percent of projected foreign project loans for the first half of 2026 had been realised.
To address the challenge, Dr. Sarkodie urged the government to complement its expenditure controls with stronger domestic revenue mobilisation while avoiding excessive tax burdens on citizens.
“The government has used an expenditure-led fiscal consolidation. There is also the need to embark on revenue-led fiscal consolidation without overburdening the taxpayer,” he said.
He further called on the Ministry of Finance to strengthen budget implementation to ensure approved allocations are translated into completed projects and improved public service delivery.
