Finance Minister hails outcome of National Economic Dialogue – Nsemkeka
Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Finance Minister on Wednesday, hailed the outcome of the National Economic Dialogue, which was held from March 3rd to 4th, in Accra.
“It is on record that the dialogue was one of the best. The content was quite interesting, and the outcomes were so clear for all of us to witness,” Dr Forson said, during the presentation of the National Economic Dialogue Planning Committee’s report by its Chairman, Dr Ishmael Yamson to President John Dramani Mahama at the Presidency in Accra.
The President on February 3, 2025, constituted a seven-member National Economic Dialogue (NED) Planning Committee as part of his 120-day Social Contract with the people of Ghana.
The Government envisions the National Economic Dialogue to achieve objectives such as communicating the true state of Ghana’s economy to stakeholders and the people of Ghana, develop a homegrown fiscal consolidation programme to guide the national budget and to highlight key structural reforms and policy priorities essential for resetting the economy.
The committee successfully organised the Economic Dialogue on the 3rd and the 4th of March and presented their report to the President on June 4, 2025.
Dr. Forson said: “We are all aware that a lot has changed since then. I recall at the time of the conference; inflation was trending 22 per cent. Today, inflation is 18.4. That signifies that a lot has happened.
“At the time, the currency was about GHC 15.5 to the US dollar. Today, we are talking of 10.29. So clearly, a lot has happened since the dialogue. And we believe that it’s the early days and things will continue to get better.”
Dr Ishmael Yamson, the Chairman of the National Economic Dialogue Planning Committee, said they were confident that the President would find their recommendations useful.
He recommended to the President for the institutionalisation of the National Economic Dialogue into a permanent consultative mechanism.