The government has allocated GH¢2.26 billion in the 2027 budget for key social intervention programmes, including the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the School Feeding Programme and the Capitation Grant.
It represents a decline of approximately GH¢1.2 billion, or 34.7 per cent, compared to GH¢3.46 billion in 2026 in funding for the identified social protection programmes.
However, at a virtual technical briefing for financial journalists on the 2027 Budget yesterday, the Coordinating Director (Technical) at the Ministry of Finance, Samuel Danquah Arkhurst, shared a different opinion and explained that the allocation did not capture the government's entire social protection expenditure, as other interventions were funded through statutory transfers and programmes implemented by ministries, departments and agencies.
Mr Arkhurst explained that some programmes under social interventions had already been secured through legislation and regulations and for that reason the allocation for the year should not be interpreted as a withdrawal of the government's commitment to social protection.
He said LEAP, for instance, already enjoyed statutory protection through an inflation-indexing mechanism, which safeguarded the programme's benefits and funding.
“Two laws and accompanying regulations on social intervention programmes were introduced in 2025, providing a legal framework for a number of these interventions.
However, we may not have highlighted them in the Budget Statement.
“Take LEAP, for instance. Its payments have been indexed to inflation. Ghana does not generally operate an inflation-indexed budget, but LEAP has been indexed by law to safeguard and protect the benefits of its beneficiaries,” he said.
Allocation not comprehensive
The director explained that the GH¢2.26 billion allocation captured on page 189 of the Budget Statement represented only the social intervention programmes specifically identified under that expenditure heading.
He said other interventions were funded through statutory transfers, including the District Assemblies Common Fund, as well as programmes implemented by individual ministries, departments and agencies.
Mr Arkhurst stressed that the figure should not be interpreted as the total amount the government intended to spend on social protection in 2027.
"That is not the full picture. When you take statutory funds such as the District Assemblies Common Fund, there are all kinds of social intervention programmes under them which you will not see in these major highlights," he said.
Statutory protection
Mr Arkhurst explained that some social intervention programmes had already been given permanent legal protection and, therefore, did not need to be presented as new policy initiatives in the 2027 Budget.
He said the decision not to highlight such programmes did not mean that they had been abandoned or that the government was withdrawing its support for them.
"The protection has already been secured in law, so we will not repeat it as a new policy in 2027," he stated.
Commitment
Mr Arkhurst said the GH¢2.26 billion allocation covered only programmes specifically identified under the social protection expenditure heading and excluded other interventions funded through statutory transfers and MDAs.
"We are not repeating those programmes as new policies in 2027 because their protection has already been secured by law," he said.
Background
The government allocation for social protection programmes has increased significantly over the past five years, although the allocations have fluctuated.
In 2023, GH¢395.07 million was allocated to LEAP, rising to GH¢720 million in 2024.
The allocation increased sharply to GH¢3.19 billion in 2025 for LEAP, the School Feeding Programme, the Capitation Grant and other interventions, before rising further to GH¢3.46 billion in 2026.
However, the 2027 Budget has reduced the allocation for the identified programmes to GH¢2.26 billion, representing a 34.7 per cent decline from the previous year's figure.
In spite of this, the 2027 budget unveiled an ambitious $10 billion intervention in eight areas to create jobs and cut imports, which is aimed at reducing unemployment to about eight per cent, while improving household incomes.
