Although the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review painted a picture of a stabilizing Ghanaian economy, financial analysts and political experts have cautioned that the country’s economic fundamentals remain fragile, citing underperforming revenue streams and an increasingly volatile foreign exchange market.
On the Ghana Tonight show on Thursday, July 24, Chief Operations Officer of Dalex Finance, Mr. Joe Jackson, warned that Ghana’s economic recovery could be undermined by persistent structural weaknesses. According to him, the country is not yet out of the economic woods, and optimism must be tempered by realism.
“Ghana Is Still Broke” – Joe Jackson Sounds Alarm
Mr. Jackson pointed out that revenue mobilization, especially from customs, has been significantly below target, a development he described as a major risk to fiscal stability.
“The first risk is that Ghana’s revenue sources are underperforming, which is a huge risk. The customs revenue shortfall is huge, and we must be concerned,” he said. He linked the shortfall to widespread smuggling and underscored the burden of rising public sector wage demands.
“I have repeatedly said to everyone that Ghana is still broke; let us not think that the benevolence and the goodness we have enjoyed mean we are out of the woods yet. Watch out for wage and salary pressures,” he cautioned.
Mr. Jackson also expressed concern about the widening gap between the official Bank of Ghana exchange rate and the rate on the parallel market. He argued that this growing divergence is a sign of a malfunctioning forex system.
“There seems to be such a significant divergence between the Bank of Ghana rate and the forex rate, which is never a good sign. That tells you that we are not able to get dollars from the banks at the rate. Nobody chooses to go to the forex if they can get it at the bank rate,” he said.
Also weighing in on the issue during TV3’s Key Points programme on Saturday, July 26, political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Joshua Jebuntie Zaato, highlighted the failure of authorities to clamp down on middlemen—locally known as abochi—who dominate the parallel forex market.
“One thing we have not done well is dealing with the abochi saga,” Dr. Zaato stated. “You go to the bank, there is no dollar, but the abochi is standing behind the bank with dollars. This is a disturbing phenomenon that must be addressed.”
Dr. Zaato also criticized the Mahama administration for what he described as inconsistency in its political messaging. He pointed out that while the government credits the previous administration’s economic groundwork in discussions with the IMF, it publicly portrays the inherited economy as a disaster.
“They made it look like they inherited a crime scene, but when they meet the IMF, they praise the former government. This doesn’t show consistency,” he noted.
In response, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, during the mid-year budget presentation, defended the current administration’s position. He insisted that the Mahama government inherited a failing economy, riddled with non-performing loans and a collapsing IMF programme.
“Indeed, as President Mahama said, the whole of Ghana was a crime scene,” Dr. Forson said, blaming the previous Akufo-Addo-led government for driving inflation to unprecedented levels and mishandling monetary policy.
He added that the Mahama administration is committed to structural reforms and economic transformation, emphasizing that progress is underway. “We have made significant progress; the signs of recovery are visible,” he stated.