News:
November 10, 2026
Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has cast doubt on the government’s proposed new 24-Hour Economy, stating it will not succeed given the governing National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) track record.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, ahead of the Finance Minister’s budget presentation on Thursday, November 12, Dr. Amin Adam said Ghanaians should question Dr. Ato Forson on the proposed $10 billion economic programme.
“We in the Minority know why we are saying so,” Dr. Amin Adam stated. “Before the Finance Minister presents the budget, Ghanaians should question the sector minister on this ten-billion-dollar new economy.”
The Minority has outlined three questions for the Finance Minister:
1. Mobilisation concerns
If the government could not mobilise $10 billion for the original 24-hour economy, how does it convince Ghanaians that it can do so for the new one?
2. Capital expenditure contradictions
How can a government cutting capital expenditure raise the amount required for the new 24-hour economy? Dr. Amin Adam noted that in the first half of 2026, capital spending fell 39.3 percent short of target, and at mid-year, another GH¢5 billion was cut from the capital budget and allocated to the Gold Board for gold purchases.
“The new economy is by definition a new capital programme of factories, irrigation, and infrastructure,” he said. “But a government that cannot fund a capital budget it already has cannot credibly tell me that they can secure $10 billion — $2 billion a year — of new capital investment from our own money.”
3. Unpaid obligations
How can a government unable to pay teachers and cocoa farmers fully implement a new 24-hour economy? Dr. Amin Adam cited teachers who went on strike over unpaid promotion arrears and allowances, which have now been pushed to January 2027. Cocoa farmers are owed more than GH¢10 billion for beans already delivered, and their producer price was cut by nearly 29 percent.
“If there is no money for teachers in the classroom and farmers who have already delivered cocoa to the government, Ghanaians are right to ask where the money will come from for the new 24-hour economy,” he said.
‘The New Economy Is Already Here’
Dr. Amin Adam further argued that Ghanaians are already experiencing what the government is calling the “new economy.”
“If you look at the new economy in the right perspective, Ghanaians are right to say they are already in the new economy that the NDC government has brought,” he said. “Inflation no longer measures the cost of living.”
He described a significant gap between headline inflation and the actual cost of living Ghanaians face daily.
“Traders complain of not selling, people are not buying, there is no money in people’s pockets — that is the new economy,” he said.
Farmers complain of piled-up grains with no buyers, cocoa farmers have suffered another cut in producer prices, and government workers have been shortchanged with lower salary adjustments — 10 percent in 2025 and 9 percent in 2026, according to Dr. Amin Adam.
“When in 2024 they told us the economy was in crisis, we did close to 30 percent. What they will present on Thursday, November 12, 2026, may be a cosmetic economy. The real economy Ghanaians face is what can be called the new economy,” he said.
“Before the NDC came to power, things were improving. Just as they came to power, we see things sliding back.”
Financing Doubts
On financing the so-called new economy, Dr. Amin Adam expressed further skepticism.
“Government wants to rely on one percentage point of GDP the IMF has allowed it to use as fiscal space by lowering the primary balance on commitment basis from 1.5 percent to 0.5 percent of GDP. But this is not money coming from anywhere — it is revenue that has to be generated and collected from Ghanaians,” he explained.
“Given the performance of government last year and this year, we should have doubt whether this new economy will not remain like the slogan of the 24-hour economy. The evidence shows that this government has been underperforming in its flagship programmes because of poor revenue performance, and we do not expect anything new under the new programme.”
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com