Parliament is expected to debate on the fiscal policy document presented by the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson on Tuesday, July 28.

This year’s Mid-Year Budget by Dr Cassiel Ato Forson centered on economic recovery, fiscal discipline and managing debt.

During the presentation, the Finance Minister stated that nearly one million (1 million) Ghanaians have been lifted out of poverty since President John Dramani Mahama’s administration returned to office.

According to him, multidimensional poverty declined from 24.9% in the third quarter of 2024 to 21.9% in the same period of 2025, reflecting a reduction in the number of people facing deprivation in areas such as education, health, employment and living conditions.

"This simply means that about 950,000 Ghanaians moved out of multidimensional poverty in just one year," he said. "Behind these statistics are the hundreds of thousands of families who now enjoy better living conditions and greater hope for the future."

He noted that Ghana’s inflation has fallen sharply from 23.8% in December 2024 to 5.3% as of June 2026.

Additionally, strengthened reserves and complemented inflation-targeting efforts.

He announced this while presenting the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday, July 23, noting that the initiative generated an additional $15 billion in foreign exchange inflows.

The policy, he stated, has helped curb gold smuggling, formalise the gold trade and ensure that a greater share of the country’s mineral wealth benefits the Ghanaian economy.

He said the GoldBod was introduced as part of broader fiscal reforms aimed at supporting inflation targeting, ensuring exchange rate stability and strengthening Ghana’s external reserves.

He argued that the government's GoldBod policy is not merely a mining-sector initiative but a macroeconomic reform with broader economic benefits.

“Central to this reform was the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to curb gold smuggling, formalise the gold trade and ensure that a greater share of Ghana’s mineral wealth benefits the Ghanaian people. 90. Through this intervention, Ghana generated an additional US$15 billion in foreign exchange inflows from gold, significantly strengthening reserve accumulation and supporting exchange rate stability,” he told Parliament.

According to him, the policy also contributed to a marked improvement in the country’s current account balance, which increased from a surplus of 1.9% in 2024 to 8.3% in 2025.

“This single policy measure improved Ghana’s current account balance by 6.4 percentage points, from a surplus of 1.9 percent of GDP in 2024 to 8.3 percent of GDP in 2025. 92. This represents a fourfold increase in the current account surplus in just one year,” he stated.

He went on to laud the programme as “macroeconomic stabilisation policy designed to strengthen the cedi, build external buffers and restore confidence in the Ghanaian economy”.

To sustain the gains, he said government has developed the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANRAP), which seeks to increase Ghana’s international reserves to the equivalent of 15 months of import cover by the end of 2028.

“The Finance Minister also disclosed that government has amended the Bank of Ghana Act to make inflation targeting a shared responsibility between the Ministry of Finance and the central bank, a measure he said would strengthen coordination between fiscal and monetary policies and consolidate macroeconomic stability”, Dr Forson added.

He further announced that government has reached an agreement with large-scale mining companies to purchase 30% of their annual gold production for refining by local refineries, a move aimed at boosting domestic value addition while supporting reserve accumulation.

“In a landmark initiative, Government has also reached agreement with large-scale mining companies to purchase 30 percent of their annual gold production for refining by local refineries, strengthening domestic value addition and supporting reserve accumulation” he continued.