Accra: The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has announced that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Ghana will be brought under the government's commitment authorisation regime for the first time. This initiative is aimed at preventing these enterprises from accumulating debts that ultimately become a burden on taxpayers.
According to Ghana Web, Dr Forson, while presenting the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday, July 23, 2026, stated that the new measure is part of broader fiscal reforms designed to strengthen public financial management and curb unchecked borrowing. This borrowing has significantly contributed to Ghana's rising public debt. He emphasized that incorporating SOEs into the commitment authorisation regime is essential to restrain them from spending beyond their means.
The Finance Minister highlighted that the liabilities of state-owned enterprises have annually added the equivalent of about 3% of Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the country's public debt over the past decade. This was due to many entities failing to honour their contractual obligations, forcing the government to assume and settle these debts. Dr Forson stressed that resources necessary for vital infrastructure developments, such as roads and hospitals, were instead used to settle the debts of SOEs, contributing to an unsustainable debt situation without tangible infrastructure improvements.
Dr Forson argued that fiscal discipline efforts across ministries and Parliament would have limited impact if SOEs continued to accumulate liabilities outside government oversight. He pointed out the ineffectiveness of enforcing fiscal discipline within ministries and Parliament if SOEs were allowed to accrue liabilities that taxpayers ultimately had to cover.
He elaborated that Ghana's debt challenges were not solely driven by fiscal deficits but also by the unchecked financial obligations accumulated by SOEs. As such, it was necessary to include these enterprises under the commitment authorisation framework to address the broader debt challenge effectively.
The budget review, mandated by Ghana's public financial management laws, provides an update on the economy, government revenue and expenditure, debt servicing, and the fiscal outlook for the remainder of 2026.