The Minority in Parliament has described the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy presented by the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, on Thursday as mere lamentations.
They said in March 2025, when the Finance Minister started his lamentations, the Minority were minded to forgive him because he was new on the job.
“Today, after several months on the job, he came to repeat the same part two of his lamentation,” he said.
Abandonment
Reacting to the budget statement on the floor of Parliament, Mr Afenyo-Markin pointed to an empty Public Gallery as an indication of how the business community decided to abandon him.
“All these empty chairs are not what we have known in the past,” he said.
The Minority Leader said the minister attempted to provide figures but gave a lengthy list of allocations in the 2025 budget statement.
He cited how the Director of Operations at the presidency, Mustapha Bandi, publicly claimed that the Presidency gave GH¢20,000 to each of the 66 constituencies every month.
He, therefore, sought to know where the government got all such money from.
“Mr. Mustafa Bandi, the Deputy General Secretary of NDC and Director of Operations at the Presidency, publicly said that every month the Presidency gives GH¢20,000 to each constituency.
“The Minister of Finance has not accounted for this and how that money is given, but time will tell,” he said.
Paltry release to Parliament
The MP for Effutu said the Finance Minister failed to consider the work of Parliament.
He described as a paltry sum the budget Dr Forson provided to Parliament, which was the only body that played the role of oversight.
“Parliament is an important organ of state and the Finance Minister himself is a member of Parliament, yet fails to recognise Parliament and its work, and you say we should hail you,” he said.
With people all over the country, including Teshie and Nungua, asking when the government would implement the 24-hour economy to create jobs, he also accused Dr Forson of failing to tell the House anything about the 24-hour economy.
“Where are the one job, three shifts?” he said, expressing concern over how ministers of state were unable to visit their constituencies to face the wrath of the people due to a lack of jobs.
Budget not lamentations
Responding, the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, rebuffed the claim by the Minority Leader that the budget statement was full of lamentations.
He said it was the continued unearthing of the bad economic management of the New Patriotic Party that was being revealed every day.
“Mr Speaker, it is obvious from the budget statement that the NPP government was the worst case study of bad economic management.
“The NPP was bad in government but even worse in opposition. Indeed, I have heard Ghanaians ask if it is too late to replace them with the CPP as the official opposition,” he said.
Improve budget for Parliament
Challenging Minority Leader’s accusation of the Finance Minister of allocating paltry sum to Parliament, Mr Ayariga said Parliament was given a budget of GH1.1 billion in 2025.
In this year's budget, Parliament was given a proposed figure of GH¢1.6 billion, he said.
“If ministers are quiet, it is because this budget was presented to ministers in Cabinet and they approved it before it was brought to you.
“So, they are aware of all the figures as everything in the budget was approved in cabinet, where all these ministers were in attendance,” he said.
On the 24-hour economy programme, the Leader of Government Business said there was a budgetary allocation of GH¢150 million.
Saying that the country was now being turned around, Mr Ayariga said it was now obvious inflation figures had drastically reduced to single digits.
“We are paying our debts and international rating agencies are giving us better ratings.
“This budget and the expenditure of last year and the effort to stabilise the economy is what will create the jobs.
“The youth should be hopeful and what happened yesterday where those young six ladies trying to find a job is a serious indictment of how the economy of this country was managed in the past eight years,” he said.
