According to him, this move aligns with President John Mahama’s commitment to reducing wasteful government expenditure.
Presenting the 2025 Budget and Economic Policy Statement in Parliament on Tuesday, 11th March, Dr Forson reiterated the government’s dedication to prudent financial management.
To achieve this goal, he stated:
Mr Speaker, we will cut waste, and we will do so significantly. In this regard, we have selected certain expenditure items, including Ghana CARES, YouStart, and One District One Factory, for complete elimination.
We will reassign the functions of development authorities such as the Coastal Development Authority, the Northern Development Authority, and the Middle Belt Development Authority to the district assemblies and do away with these development authorities entirely.
Mr Speaker, we will amend the Petroleum Revenue Management Act to allocate all Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) resources exclusively for infrastructure development, rather than for goods and services.
Dr Forson also highlighted further reforms:
We will amend the Public Procurement Act to establish an independent Value for Money Office to scrutinise government procurement. Additionally, we will collaborate with Parliament to amend the Act so that commencement certificates and budgetary provisions become prerequisites for all procurement funded by the central government.
The 1D1F initiative was introduced by former President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2017 to transform Ghana’s economy from one reliant on exporting raw materials and importing finished goods into one focused on manufacturing, value addition, and the export of processed goods.
The YouStart programme was launched as an ambitious entrepreneurial initiative in the 2022 Budget, aimed at building an entrepreneurial nation and creating at least one million jobs for young people within three years (2022–2025).
The Ghana COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprises Support (Ghana CARES) programme was introduced by Nana Akufo-Addo on 18th November 2020 in Accra to support economic recovery from the pandemic.