GhanaWeb Feature by Ishmael Batoma

The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, in accordance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 21 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), will be presenting the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Policy Review at Parliament on Thursday, July 24, 2025.

In addition to announcing adjustments to the main 2025 Budget for the remainder of the year, the finance minister is expected to give an update on the country’s economic performance.

The finance minister and President John Dramani Mahama have gained plaudits from a faction of the public on the performance of the economy.

Some Ghanaians, mostly proponents of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), have, however, maintained that Ghanaians are worse off than they were during the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.

But who is right? Before Dr Ato Forson’s presentation, GhanaWeb’s data journalist, Ishmael Batoma, examines the economic performance of the nearly 8-month-old John Dramani Mahama administration.

This article assesses the performance of major economic variables, plus other key goods and services, by comparing them to what the current government inherited.



Inflation:

The John Dramani Mahama government inherited an inflation rate of approximately 24% – meaning the price of goods and services on average increased by 24%.

The inflation rate increased slightly to 28.30% in the first month of the Mahama administration but has dropped every month to 13.70% as at June 2025 – a more than 10 percentage point drop.



Over the same period, food inflation (the increase in the price of food items) dropped more drastically compared to non-food inflation (the increase in the price of rent, transport, among others).

While food inflation dropped from nearly 28% to over 16% (about 12 percentage points), non-food inflation dropped from a little over 20% to 11% (approximately 9 percentage points).

Depreciation of the cedi:

One of the main economic challenges that was observed during the former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government was the depreciation of the country’s currency, the Ghana cedi.

After seeing some gains in the last months of the Akufo-Addo government, the cedi depreciated (lost value) in the first two months of the Mahama government against its major trading currencies, the United States dollar, the British pound and euro.

From February 2025 to the end of April 2025, the cedi stabilised against the major trading currencies, especially the dollar, before significantly appreciating (gaining value).



The Mahama government inherited an exchange rate of GH¢14.7 to the dollar ($1 was selling for GH¢14.7).

As of June 2025, the rate was GH¢10.31 to the dollar – a more than 48% drop.

A pound was selling at GH¢18.69 as of the end of December 2024. From then, it dropped by about 32% to sell at GH¢14 at the end of June 2025.

The euro also saw a similar drop in value against the cedi, depreciating from about GH¢15 to the euro to about GH¢12.

Interest rate:

The Mahama government inherited an interbank weighted interest rate of about 27% from the Akufo-Addo administration.

The rate as at May 2025 is still 27%, meaning there has not been any drop in the cost of borrowing.

The monetary policy rate of 27% inherited by the Mahama government has increased to 28%.



This implies that businesses still have to borrow at a high interest rate in the first seven months of the Mahama government.

Electricity and water tariffs:

Electricity and water tariffs have increased two times already under the John Dramani Mahama government.

In May, electricity tariffs increased by nearly 15% while water tariffs increased by over 4%.

Again, in June 2025, electricity tariffs were increased by over 2% while water tariffs saw no increase.




Price of fuel:

The continuous increase in the price of fuel products was also one of the main challenges in the Akufo-Addo administration.

Petrol was selling at GH¢14.5 per litre and diesel at GH¢14.6 per litre as at the end of December 2024.



As at the end of June 2025, a litre of petrol was selling at GH¢11.77, a more than 23% drop from the price in December 2024.

The price of diesel also dropped by approximately 17%, from GH¢14.6 per litre at the end of December 2024 to GH¢12.5 per litre at the end of June 2025.