Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, a legal scholar, has raised fundamental questions about the necessity and efficacy of the newly established Fiscal Council, birthed under the Public Financial Management (PFM) Amendment Act, 2025.
The Democracy and Development Fellow at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), widely known as Kwaku Azar, cautioned against what he termed “bureaucracy without necessity,” calling instead for the strengthening of existing institutions, particularly the Office of the Auditor-General.
According to the provisions of the amended PFM Act, the new Fiscal Council is to be composed of five members: a Chairperson, one representative from academia, one from a research think tank, a former policy expert from the Ministry of Finance, and another from the Bank of Ghana.
All appointments will be made by the President, subject to parliamentary approval. Importantly, appointees are barred from holding any government position—a safeguard designed to ensure the Council’s independence.
However, Professor Asare believes this does not go far enough. He argued that active political party members should also be explicitly disqualified to prevent the council from being politicised.
The Council’s core objectives are to promote transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability by independently assessing the government’s compliance with fiscal responsibility rules.
To achieve this, it is mandated to monitor compliance with fiscal rules, assess the credibility of macroeconomic forecasts, advise the government on fiscal policy, and publish public reports.
The Council will also brief Parliament’s Budget Committee, evaluate fiscal outcomes, host biannual media briefings, and recommend necessary changes to fiscal rules.
Duplications of Functions
However, in Professor Asare’s estimation, this newly mandated body duplicates functions already assigned—constitutionally and operationally—to the Auditor-General.
He noted that Article 187 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution empowers the Auditor-General to audit public funds and ensure compliance with legal and performance benchmarks.
According to Professor Asare, in practice, it means the Auditor-General already has the authority to assess macroeconomic assumptions underlying the national budget, report findings to Parliament and the public, advise policymakers, engage the media, and recommend reforms.
“With modest investment in analytical and forecasting capacity, the Auditor-General could fully absorb the functions of the Fiscal Council, legally, operationally, and independently”.
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, CDD-Ghana Fellow and Legal Scholar
He further decried what he described as Ghana’s habitual creation of “new institutions for old problems,” warning that such an approach risks undermining coherence in governance and wasting scarce public resources.
According to him, the creation of the Fiscal Council does not only overlap with the constitutional functions of the Auditor-General but also infringes upon the forecasting and policy design roles of the Ministry of Finance and the oversight mandate of Parliamentary Committees.
“Rather than improve coordination, a new body splinters responsibility, delays action, and raises the cost of governance without clear gains,” he warned. Professor Asare advocated for a more prudent and strategic reform philosophy—one that prioritises enhancing the effectiveness of existing institutions over establishing new bureaucracies.
He argued that the creation of the Fiscal Council is “well-intentioned but unnecessary,” stressing that what Ghana’s fiscal governance architecture needs is not more institutions but more effective ones.
“Let’s adopt GOGO’s doctrine of reform: Don’t multiply institutions—multiply effectiveness,” he concluded, invoking the principle by which his civic engagement persona—GOGO (Good Governance)—has gained respect for championing practical reforms grounded in constitutionalism and institutional accountability.
The Fiscal Council, though intended to add another layer of fiscal scrutiny and safeguard against reckless economic management, may well fall into the growing list of underutilised and redundant institutions, Professor Asare suggested.
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