Professor Robert Darko Osei, director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), has urged the government to increase capital expenditure in Ghana’s 2027 budget to strengthen infrastructure and improve business productivity.
His comments come ahead of the budget presentation in Parliament on Thursday, November 12, when Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson is expected to set out the government’s fiscal policy.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express Business Edition, Professor Osei said spending on capital projects fell more than 40 per cent below its target during the first half of 2026. The reduction formed part of efforts to meet the government’s fiscal consolidation objectives.
“We were down by the target by over 40 percent in terms of the capital expenditures, which clearly is not consistent with a big push to try and beef up infrastructure,” he said.
Professor Osei warned that continued reliance on cuts to capital spending could weaken the infrastructure needed to reduce the cost of operating businesses. He said that approach was also inconsistent with the administration’s US$9 billion ‘New Economy’ plan for 2027–2030.
The ISSER director said public infrastructure investment should be viewed as a means of supporting companies and the wider economy, rather than as an end in itself.
“We are not doing the infrastructure for the sake of infrastructure. We are doing the infrastructure to support the ecosystem within which businesses operate,” Osei noted.
His call comes as Dr Ato Forson briefs traditional leaders on the 2027 budget. The government is preparing the budget within a tight fiscal strategy and under IMF budget rules, but Professor Osei said any fiscal space created should be directed towards productive public investment.
He also stressed that increasing capital allocations alone would not guarantee better outcomes. Public projects, he said, would need close monitoring, stronger accountability and rigorous value-for-money assessments.
“It is not just the number of or the amount of cedis that we spend. It is also the efficiency of the spending,” Osei stressed.
The comments place the focus on how the government intends to balance fiscal consolidation with the infrastructure investment required to support productivity and lower business costs.
