Ghana must build stronger buffers to protect economic gains — Adu Sarkodie to Ato Forson

Ghana must build stronger economic buffers to protect recent macroeconomic gains from external shocks, Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana and Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Scrutiny, Dr Adu Owusu Sarkodie, has said.

He said while the country’s economic indicators had improved following the implementation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported programme, sustaining the gains would require stronger domestic systems capable of absorbing global disruptions.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue on Saturday, July 25, 2026, Dr Sarkodie said Ghana’s economic recovery followed difficult conditions in 2022, which forced the government to seek IMF support and restructure its debt.

“The IMF programme was given to us in tranches. So you would expect the impact of the programme, a greater impact of the programme at the end of the programme, not at the beginning,” he said.

He noted that by 2023 and 2024, Ghana was already showing signs of recovery, adding that the current administration had continued with the reforms started under the programme.

“This administration has stayed the course of that recovery. They have stayed committed to what was started earlier,” he said.

However, Dr Sarkodie warned that external shocks, including global conflicts and commodity price disruptions, could reverse progress if Ghana failed to strengthen its economic resilience.

“Anytime there is an external shock, it destabilises our macro gains, and it derails the macro gains. And that’s why most of us are concerned,” he said.

“What we have to do now is build buffers. We have to make sure that the gains that we have made are consolidated. What are we doing locally to withstand the pressures from external shocks? That one is key for me.”

The economist said Ghana should institutionalise fiscal discipline beyond the IMF programme, including maintaining the framework of the Post-Credit Implementation (PCI) arrangement after the programme ends.

“My recommendation there is that we should internalise the framework of the PCI in such a way that even after the exit, Ghana will still stay fiscally disciplined,” he said.

Dr Sarkodie praised the coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities, saying both policies were currently working towards the same objective of maintaining stability.

“You see the push of the fiscal, and the push of the monetary is the same thing. The song that the fiscal is singing is the same song that the monetary is singing,” he said.

He, however, argued that economic stability alone would not be enough to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians, stressing the need for growth, industrial transformation and job creation.

“The gains are good, but the cost should be shared,” he said.

Dr Sarkodie said the government must complement expenditure controls with aggressive revenue mobilisation to create the fiscal space needed for development.

“The government is not spending what they have not raised. But the recommendation is that, why don’t we try and raise enough so that we can spend and still keep the gap between revenue and expenditure, which is called a fiscal deficit, still narrow,” he said.

He also criticised what he described as an overreliance on the Bank of Ghana in the fight against inflation, arguing that other sectors of the economy must contribute.

“The fight against inflation should be a shared responsibility,” he said.

According to him, agriculture, industry, transport, roads and communications must play stronger roles in reducing inflationary pressures instead of leaving the burden mainly on monetary policy.

He added that the central bank’s aggressive liquidity management measures would not be sustainable without broader economic reforms.