Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson says Ghana is determined not to return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for another bailout after the country’s 17th programme, stressing that sustained fiscal discipline will be critical to avoiding another economic crisis.
Presenting the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday, July 23, Dr. Forson cautioned that the economic stability achieved so far could be lost if the country returns to fiscal indiscipline.
“Ghana has travelled this road before. We have stabilised, celebrated, relaxed and relapsed,” he told Parliament.
“Seventeen times we turned to the IMF for a bailout. We are determined that the seventeenth shall be the last,” he declared.
Dr. Forson, however, said achieving that objective would require more than government action, calling on Ghanaians to help protect the economic gains made.
“But that determination cannot rest on the shoulders of the Government alone. This is my call to every Ghanaian. The gains we have secured are national gains, and they demand a national commitment to protect them,” he said.
The Finance Minister urged Ghanaians to pay their taxes to reduce the country’s dependence on borrowing to finance critical public services and infrastructure.
He also called for greater scrutiny of public spending and accountability in the management of state resources.
“It means demanding value for every cedi of public expenditure and refusing to look away when public resources are being wasted,” Dr Forson said.
According to him, Ghana must institutionalise responsible economic management to prevent the country from repeating previous cycles of fiscal distress.
“Fiscal discipline can no longer be the policy of a Minister. It must become the culture of our nation,” he stressed.
Dr. Forson warned that economic stability should not be treated as a permanent achievement that requires no further effort.
“Stability is not a trophy to be won once and displayed forever. It is a garden. It must be tended every single day, or we lose it,” he said.
Ghana has repeatedly sought IMF support during periods of economic and fiscal difficulty. The country’s latest programme followed a severe economic crisis that led to domestic and external debt restructuring and measures aimed at restoring debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability.
Dr. Forson said the government now intends to build on the stabilisation achieved and shift its attention towards economic transformation, job creation and wealth generation.
