Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has said he warned about Ghana's looming economic crisis in 2020.

According to him, the country could have avoided the severity of the crisis if the previous administration had sought earlier support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Speaking on JoyNews' PM Express after presenting the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review, on July 23, 2026, Dr Forson said he raised concerns about the direction of the economy while serving as the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee.

“I saw it coming in 2020, even before the elections. Post-election 2021, my view was they needed to go to IMF at the time,” he said.

The Finance Minister argued that Ghana’s debt situation in 2021 was still manageable and that an earlier engagement with the IMF could have helped the country avoid the economic difficulties that later emerged.

“In fact, at the time, Ghana’s debt at the time was sustainable in 2021. So, if they had gone to IMF earlier than 2022 when they did the announcement, maybe we would have avoided it,” he added.

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Dr Forson said it was important for government at the time to be transparent with Ghanaians about the state of the economy and seek public support to address the challenges.

“It is your responsibility as Minister of Finance to look straight and tell the people of Ghana the true state of the Ghanaian economy and call for support. And as a result, with the backing of the country, we could have fixed the problem,” he said.

Dr Forson however acknowledged the impact of COVID-19 but maintained that the pandemic alone did not explain Ghana’s economic crisis.

“You see, the truth is that COVID did not only affect Ghana. It affected the world. It affected all of us, so why is it that countries like La Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and all other countries around us did not go through the same economic crisis? he quizzed.

Dr Forson described the crisis as one driven by public debt, saying the country had to undertake debt restructuring and other difficult measures to restore economic stability.

JKB/VPO

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