The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, has called on the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to prioritise the rebasing of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and Consumer Price Index data as the basis for sound economic decision-making.
He made the call when he handed over the old offices of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) back to the GSS in Accra last Tuesday, ending the ministry’s occupation of the building since February 1976.
Dr Forson said the nation’s GDP has not been rebased since 2016, almost 10 years ago.
“I'm sure one year from now you’ll be about finishing the rebasing of our GDP and inflation,” he said.
He also challenged the GSS to develop a methodology to publish quarterly or half-yearly employment numbers from early 2028.
“Growth should not always be jobless. Growth must create jobs, and I want to be assessed on that line. Unemployment is our biggest enemy today. How do we fix it? We can only fix it with the right raw data,” he added.
Dr Forson said data from the GSS remained critical to the government’s economic management.
“When I became a Minister of Finance for the first time, on the second day in office, I walked straight to the Government Statistician’s office.
I needed to track inflation because inflation had become very sticky,” he recalled.
He said that through regular engagements with the then Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, the government was able to better understand inflation dynamics.
“Today, inflation is a single digit, and so you have a role to play — a very important role,” he stated.
The minister assured the GSS of adequate funding to retain statisticians, econometricians, economists and mathematicians.
“It shouldn't always be that the best of the best must leave for other places.
The best must also stay here, and we will help you stay because your role is important,” he said.
Funding for rebasing, operations
The Government Statistician, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, thanked the minister for securing GH¢207 million in the 2026 budget for the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index and GDP, with GH¢140 million already released.
“That is real money behind real credibility,” he said, and appealed for the release of the remaining balance to enable completion by the second quarter of 2027.
He also requested an adjustment to the service’s annual budget ceiling to cover utilities, maintenance and refurbishment of the new block, and for cabinet and parliamentary approval of an additional $22 million financing, which he said cabinet had already approved.
Dr Iddrisu further acknowledged approval for a revised salary structure and migration of staff, financial clearance for 100 new staff, the appointment of two Deputy Government Statisticians, and clearance for two legal officers.
He said the GSS released over 80 statistical products last year and 40 in the first half of this year, including a monthly indicator of economic growth — the first in the sub-region.
Other upcoming outputs include “Ghana in Numbers,” thematic reports from Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS) Eight, District-level Multidimensional Poverty Index dissemination on food insecurity and unemployment, and preparations for the 2030 Population and Housing Census.
“Confidence is not a gift, it is a loan, and we have to repay it with numbers that are accurate, timely and trusted,” Dr Iddrisu told staff.
The Government Statistician commended the Minister of Finance for what he described as “historic” support to the GSS, including the formal handover of office space and major budgetary allocations.
Dr Iddrisu said the move ended more than 50 years of the ministry occupying the statistical service block and made available additional space at a critical time as the service operated with about 252 staff out of an approved 560.
He added that part of the complex would also be used to relocate the Greater Accra Regional Office, which currently works in a building with structural defects.
