Budget Presentation (March 11, 2025)
Constitutional and legal mandates
- Presented under Articles 179 and 180 of Ghana’s Constitution and the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (pages 1, 3, 13)
Theme:
- "Resetting the Economy for the Ghana We Want" (paragraph 19, page 14).
Reports Submitted:
- 2024 annual reports on Petroleum Funds
- Energy Sector Levies
- African Union Import Levy
(paragraph 5, page 13)
Legislative Proposals:
Review of ten Acts
- e.g., Petroleum Revenue Management Act
- Public Procurement Act)
- Introduction of a Ghana Gold Board Bill to stabilize the economy.
Section 4: 2025 and Medium-Term Policy Objectives (Pages 48-68
Fiscal Policy Goals:
- Stabilize the economy
- Promote inclusive growth
- Implement the 24-hour Economy policy for job creation
- (paragraphs 7-8, pages 13-14).
Macroeconomic Targets:
- Detailed in paragraph 51 (page 51), including
- GDP growth,
- Inflation control,
- and fiscal deficit reduction.
Revenue Measures:
- New tax policies to mobilize GH¢293 billion total appropriation
- (paragraph 53, page 53 (paragraph 5, page 13)
Expenditure Measures:
- Focus on
- Education
- Health
- Infrastructure
- and social welfare
- (paragraph 51, page 51).
Debt Management:
- No new non-concessional borrowing in 2025
- (Appendix 10C, page 249);
- One concessional project is listed (Appendix 10D, page 250).
Petroleum Projections:
- 2025 receipts and distribution outlined
- (Tables 36-37, pages 60-61).
Specific Program Allocations (Section 5, Pages 69-73):
Total Expenditure Allocations (2025)
Total Expenditure (Commitment Basis):
- Amount: GH¢268.8 billion
- Purpose: Overall government spending including all sectors and obligations
- Page: 58 (Section 4, "2025 Resource Allocation")
Petroleum Revenue Allocation (2025)
Infrastructure Development:
Big Push Programme for infrastructure.
- Allocated GH₵13.85 billion
- Purpose:
- Rapid infrastructure development
- Aiming to create jobs through projects like:
- roads and bridges, reflecting a priority on
- physical capital investment.
Education Initiatives:
Free Senior High School (SHS) Programme
- Amount: GH¢3.5 billion
- Fully funded through uncapping the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), noted as "not specified (uncapped)" on page 71, to ensure universal access and reduce dropout rates.
No Academic Fees Policy (First-Year Tertiary Students)
- Amount: GH¢499.8 million
- on page 71 for first-year tertiary students under the 'No-Fees-Stress' initiative, enhancing higher education access.
Free Textbooks.
- GH₵564.6 million
- page 72
- for curricula-based textbooks
- Supporting 2.8 million learners at KG
- 800,000 at primary
- 540,000 at JHS 3
- to improve learning outcomes.
Health and Social Welfare:
National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS):
- Amount: GH₵9.93 billion
- page 72
- for claim payments
- Essential medicines
- vaccines and
- Free Primary Healthcare,
- including the
- Ghana Medical Care Trust (MahamaCares).
Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP):
- Amount: GH₵953.5 million
- page 72,
- Increased from GH₵728.8 million in 2024,
- indexing benefits to inflation and
- expanding to 400,000 households from 350,000
Social Protection and Youth Development
School Feeding Programme:
- Amount: GH₵1.788 billion
- page 72
- up from GH₵1.344 billion in 2024,
- with feeding costs per child per day rising from GH₵1.50 to GH₵2.00.
Capitation Grant:
- Amount: GH₵145.5 million
- page 72
- Increased from GH₵84 million in 2024
- To support basic education.
Teacher and Nursing Trainee Allowances:
- GH₵203 million and GH₵480 million respectively
- page 72
- To support training and retention.
Economic and Community Support:
Ghana Road Fund:
- GH₵2.81 billion
- page 72,
- uncapped for road maintenance
- 155.5% increase over 2024's GH₵1.1 billion.
District Assembly Common Fund (DACF):
- GH₵7.51 billion
- pages 72–73
- with a proposal for 80% direct transfer to:
- District Assemblies for local development.
Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda (AETA):
- GH₵1.5 billion
- page 73
- covering programs like:
- Feed Ghana
- Ghana Grains Development
- Vegetable Development
- and Nkoko Nkitinkiti
- To boost agricultural productivity.
Women's Development Bank:
- Amount: GH₵51.3 million
- page 73
- as seed funding to support women's economic empowerment.
National Apprenticeship Programme:
- Amount: GH₵300 million
- page 73
- for skill development among youth.
'Adwumawura' Programme:
- Amount: GH₵100 million
- page 73
- for business start-ups for young people, fostering entrepreneurship.
National Coders Programme:
- Amount: GH₵100 million
- page 73
- To enhance digital skills, aligning with technology-driven growth.
Monthly Allowance for Assembly Members:
- Amount: GH₵100 million
- page 73
- To support local governance.
Debt Management
Sinking Fund:
- Operationalized to build buffers for debt repayment
- (GH¢143 million in 2025)
Liability Management:
- Amount: GH¢36.8 billion
- Purpose: allocated for domestic debt refinancing.
Grants and External Financing
Project Grants:
- Amount: GH¢2.7 billion
- (from development partners)
IMF-ECF Disbursements: (Page 59)
- Amount: US$720 million
World Bank DPO: (Page 59)
- Amount: US$600 million
General Expenditure Categories
Compensation of Employees (on page 58):
- Amount: GH₵76.6 billion
- Covering wages
- Salaries
- Pensions
- Gratuities
- Social security for public servants
- with a 10% base pay increase Single Spine Salary Structure
Use of Goods and Services (page 58):
- Amount: GH₵6.97 billion
- For operational costs across government units.
Grants to Other Government Units | Page: 58
- GH₵54.5 billion
- Transfers to earmarked funds for specific purposes (e.g., DACF, GETFund, NHIS).
Interest Payments: | Page: 58
- Amount: GH₵64.2 billion
- Domestic: GH¢56.2 billion
- Foreign: GH¢7.9 billion,
- Purpose: Debt servicing commitments.
Capital Expenditure (CAPEX): | Page: 58-59
- Amount: GH¢33.0 billion (2.4% of GDP)
- Split into:
- Domestic-Financed: GH₵21.3 billion
- Purpose: GH₵7.5 billion for MDAs and GH₵13.8 billion for Big Push
- Foreign-Financed: GH₵11.7 billion (project loans/grants)
- Purpose: Infrastructure development and public investment.
Other Expenditure:
- Amount: GH₵33.6 billion
- Purpose:
- Covering Energy Sector Levies transfers (ESLA)
- Energy Sector Payment Shortfalls
- Independent Power Producers (IPPs),
- Finsec costs (financial sector costs), addressing energy sector challenges.
Economic and Community Support:
Administration Sector (page 149)
- Total GOG allocation of GH₵11,316,671,350
- For general administration functions including:
- Office of Government Machinery
- Parliament
- Audit Service
- with breakdowns into Compensation of Employees (GH₵9,021,992,920)
- Goods and Services (GH₵1,658,201,368
- CAPEX (GH₵636,477,062)
Economic Sector (page 150):
- Total GOG allocation of GH₵8,003,094,961
- Supporting agriculture
- Fisheries
- Trade
- Tourism
- Environment,
- and Energy,
- with breakdowns into Compensation of:
- Employees (GH₵1,437,829,013)
- Goods and Services (GH₵1,044,891,478)
- CAPEX (GH₵1,139,170,235)
Infrastructure Sector (page 151):
- Total GOG allocation of GH₵6,003,633,020
- For roads
- Housing
- Water resources
- and digital technology
- with breakdowns into Compensation of:
- Employees (GH₵264,367,768)
- Goods and Services (GH₵95,386,751)
- CAPEX (GH₵3,310,145,929)
Social Sector (page 152):
- Total GOG allocation of GH₵53,739,880,056
- for education
- Health
- Youth
- Development
- and social protection
- with breakdowns into Compensation of:
- Employees (GH₵39,751,371,152)
- Goods and Services (GH₵4,602,027,947)
- CAPEX (GH₵494,499,900).
Public Safety Sector (page 153):
- Total GOG allocation of GH₵19,438,518,265
- For security
- Justice
- and emergency services
- with breakdowns into Compensation of:
- Employees (GH₵16,701,730,266)
- Goods and Services (GH₵876,853,588)
- CAPEX (GH₵512,247,737)
Multi-Sectoral Sector (page 154):
- Total GOG allocation of GH₵188,835,635,968
- For general government services
- Big push CAPEX
- and other earmarked funds
- with breakdowns into Compensation of:
- Employees (GH₵9,442,824,641)
- Goods and Services (GH₵1,880,702,026)
- CAPEX (GH₵15,163,580,080)
Specific Ministry allocations
Ministry of Education
- On page 152
- Amount (GH₵31,772,464,382)
Ministry of Health
- On page 152
- Amount (GH₵17,816,819,638)
Implementation and Oversight
Medium-term objectives for 2025–2028
- with Appendices (pages 126–252)
- providing economic data
- Fiscal operations
- IGF projections
Audit recommendations
- On page 233–246
- Aim to recover taxes
- Reduce unearned salaries
- Address procurement irregularities
- Ensuring fiscal discipline
Public Access and Reactions
Available
- Physically via the Ministry of Finance Public Relations Office