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He said one of the things people blamed Ofori for was that he didn't release money. Some things were budgeted for, but Ofori-Atta did not release money."

Published 14 Nov 2026, 08:09 GMTUpdated 14 Nov 2026, 08:25 GMT

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Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, has said that the commitment authorisation regime that the current Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, is touting already existed before Dr Forson became Finance Minister, but under a new name.

He recalled that under the previous Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, things were budgeted for, but Mr Ofori-Atta did not release funds for spending.

Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, November 14, Bentil said, "The first two years of Ato Forson compared to the first two years of Ofori-Atta, Ofori-Atta did better. Ato is a fantastic minister, but two years is not enough to call finality on anybody's record. Dear Ato, don't be sidetracked; focus on what you have to do.

"Commitment authorisation was happening before Ato Forson but under a new name. One of the things people blamed Ofori Atta for was that he didn't release money. Some things were budgeted for, but Ofori-Atta did not release money."

Also commenting on the same issue, a technical advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Theo Acheampong, said that the current Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson and his team have introduced a number of measures to bring about sanity into the fiscal space.

He noted that when the Mahama administration took over governance in 2025, there were a lot of issues in the fiscal space that created problems.

After careful consideration and assessment, he said the Finance Minister introduced the commitment authorisation, meaning that although a ministry's budget may have been approved, sector ministers still need authorisation to spend.

He said categorically that the introduction of the "commitment authorisation regime is one of the ways to bring a lot of sanity into the system."

"We realised that something drastic had to be done in order not to repeat the mistake of the past. The painful haircuts. Coming into the office, we said never again should we impose such hardships on our people," he also said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, November 14, while discussing the 2027 budget statement.

During the budget presentation, the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson said that under the New Economy that the government is going to judge economic growth by the number of jobs it creates.

Also, he said the income that is generated will be used to assess the growth.

Dr Forson said this while reading the 2027 budget statement to parliament on Thursday, November 12.

"We will judge growth by the jobs and income it creates," he said.

Dr Cassiel Ato Forson further assured Ghanaians that the government will protect the economic recovery.

He says the government will scale up fiscal discipline as part of the efforts to protect stability and present the benefits to the people of Ghana.

"Government will preserve stability. Government support to the private sector will be transparent. We will protect the recovery with fiscal discipline," he said.

He further said that Ghana has made significant gains and emerged from its worst economic crisis.

He says that stability is restored, confidence is back, and Ghanaians can breathe again.

He said, "Ghana has made significant gains, has emerged from the most painful economic crisis in our history, stability has returned, confidence is back, and Ghanaians can breathe again."

"The Ghanaian people paid heavy prices; the debt restructuring imposed severe hardships,"

Dr Forson further stated that "We [Ghana] have grown but we have not built enough resilience into that growth."

Prior to the budget presentation, the Minister of Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu said that the New Economy that will be announced by the Finance Minister in the 2027 budget statement will spell out clear plans to provide jobs for the youth.

He says the New Economy is not business as usual; it intends to serve a useful purpose.

"It is not business as usual; it creates jobs for the youth; it is a government programme intended to transform the economy over the next four years. 24-hour economy was never meant to be an event; it was a government initiative that brings incentives to the private sector," he told TV3 ahead of the 2027 budget presentation on Thursday November 12.

"Substantial work has gone into it; yes, we are yet to realise the full scale of the programme," he added.

Laud NarteyLaud Nartey is a current affairs editor with the MG News team at Media General, serving TV3 Ghana, 3News, Onua TV and more platforms.

Commitment Authorisation was already happening before Ato Forson became Finance Minister - Bentil

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