The Member of Parliament for Karaga, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has accused Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson of manipulating economic data to mislead Ghanaians about the state of the economy inherited by the current administration.
Speaking after the presentation of the 2025 Budget to Parliament on March 11, Dr. Amin Adam criticized the figures presented by the Finance Minister, arguing that they were deliberately altered to create a misleading impression of economic distress.
“The fiscal programme was what the minister tried to use to misinform Ghanaians about the economy we handed over to them. The minister was quoting a fiscal deficit on a commitment basis of about 8.3% and a primary balance of 3.7% deficit. Ladies and gentlemen, these are cooked figures. They have manipulated the data, and we know how they did it,” he stated.
He claimed that the government introduced a new line item termed “unreleased claims,” amounting to GHC 49 billion, to distort fiscal data and exaggerate the reported deficit.
“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 plans to raise the Growth and Sustainability Levy on mining companies from 1% to 3% to maximize Ghana’s gains from the extractive sector.
It also included the reintroduction of road tolls on public roads and other strategic measures aimed at driving national development.