Have you seen Ghana’s 2026 Budget?

The Finance Minister recently presented and read the budget proposal for Ghana going into 2026. Headlines have been filled with the different things contained in the budget. Today, you read that the budget has made provision for this group, or has taken this tax off, or has even made changes to an existing tax. Whatever the case is, you can trust that OPE will give you an excellent understanding of the budget, its contents and what it eventually means for your pockets and your dream of making money. This week, we will look at what a budget is first before we examine the elements. This is just to condition you to know what we should expect, so we don’t get our hopes up without understanding what it means for us.

What is a Budget?
We all have a plan on how to spend the money we get. I mean, even if you do not put it on paper, you have a fair idea of where each money should go. I have to pay for this, I have to pay for rent, buy food, buy prepaid, transport, etc. If it is not enough for the movements that you want to make, then you may have to borrow some from friends and family. We all understand that if you do not plan your money very well, that will be a recipe for disaster. So compulsory by force, you will make a budget, if not on paper, you will do it in your head. That is what a budget basically is. It tracks both your income and expenses. Government budget works in a similar fashion, but with a few tweaks and is definitely bigger than your budget. With this increase in size, you can’t just wing things as you go. Plus, you are managing communal money, so you have to do things in a certain way.

Now, when it comes to the government’s budget, it’s Ghana’s financial plan for the year. It shows where the government expects to get money from and how it plans to spend that money. Just as you also get money from salary and maybe side businesses, the government also has its sources too, like the taxes you pay on goods, like the VAT, income tax, and company taxes. That is not all ooo. That is just the tax domain; now the government also has another source, which is revenues from state-owned enterprises like GNPC and Cocoa Board. That is not all. The government also gets income from grants from development partners like the African Development Bank, the World Bank Group, etc. Now, after collecting all these, it also borrows if the things they want to do is longer than their pockets.

And just like you have to decide between specing your room or buying a new phone, the government also has priorities and must decide between things like building roads or hiring more public workers. This is grossly simplified, but that is just the basic idea of a government budget. It is essentially the government saying, “Here’s how much we think we’ll collect, here’s what we want to spend it on. It’s presented to Parliament for approval because, just like you might discuss big spending decisions with your spouse or family, the government must get the people’s representatives to agree to the plan.

How does the 2026 budget affect me?
The budget serves as the government’s roadmap for managing Ghana’s economy. It’s the tool that translates all those campaign promises and development plans into actual spending decisions. The current budget includes VAT Reforms (Pages 105-107), The 24-Hour Economy (Pages 126-127), Electricity for All (Pages 117-119), Energy Sector Savings (Pages 117-118), and many more. Considering the size of the document, we will take time to explore all the elements in our subsequent posts.