The National Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has criticised the 2025 budget statement, describing it as an anti-climax and an underwhelming reset.
On March 11, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson presented the budget to Parliament, outlining plans to reset the country’s struggling economy.
However, Mr. Ahiagbah argues that the budget failed to introduce measures to improve living conditions—an issue the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) heavily campaigned on to win the 2024 general elections.
In a social media post on Sunday, March 16, the opposition party’s spokesperson noted that the budget did not adequately address the cost of living and unemployment.
“The 2025 budget is an anti-climax. An underwhelming reset… The only reason people are not demonstrating against the 2025 budget is the inherent patience of Ghanaians,” part of his post read.
He further asserted that the budget lacked direct interventions to cushion Ghanaians against the rising cost of living, a major campaign promise of President John Mahama. As a result, he believes the cost of living will worsen.
On job creation, Mr. Ahiagbah stated that the budget failed to make any clear financial commitments toward implementing the proposed 24-hour economy.
He argued that this omission suggests that unemployment, which President Mahama pledged to tackle, will remain a pressing issue.
“The government budgeted GH¢2.711 billion for compensation for the Office of Government Machinery, which is more than the GH¢2.051 billion it has budgeted to spend on the top five job and skills development campaign promises,” he noted.
Providing a breakdown, he highlighted the following allocations: GH¢1.5 billion for the Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda (AETA), GH¢300 million for the National Apprenticeship Program, GH¢100 million for the ‘Adwumawura’ Program, GH¢100 million for the National Coders Program, and the GH¢51.3 million for establishing the Women’s Development Bank.
