Technical Advisor to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Fredrick Amissah Owusu, says government’s overriding priority for the remainder of the year is translating eighteen months of economic stabilisation into real jobs for young Ghanaians, describing employment as the country’s most pressing challenge despite recent gains in fiscal discipline.
Speaking in a televised interview, Mr. Amissah Owusu said government had spent its first year and a half in office laying a macroeconomic foundation, and that President John Dramani Mahama is preparing to launch a “new economy” model before November 2026, built specifically around linking government spending to job creation.
The remarks come at a time when public conversation has increasingly shifted from questions of fiscal stability toward the more urgent matter of whether that stability is being felt in ordinary households across the country.
Debt Placed on What Officials Call a Sustainable Path
Addressing concerns over Ghana’s public debt stock, which currently stands at figures near 47 billion, Mr. Amissah Owusu cautioned against reading debt sustainability purely through absolute numbers, arguing that a country’s capacity to service its obligations matters more than the raw figure itself.
He illustrated the point with a simple comparison of two individuals earning different incomes but carrying different debt loads, explaining that the person with the higher income and higher debt is often better positioned to manage repayment than someone earning far less, even if their nominal debt figure is smaller.
“In public debt analysis, you don’t use what we call the absolute figures. You look at the ability and the capacity to pay.”
Minister of Finance, Mr. Fredrick Amissah Owusu
He said falling treasury bill rates offered evidence that government was managing its finances prudently, adding that the current administration has avoided heavy market borrowing in favour of living within available revenue.
He described this approach as marking a clear departure from the practices of previous economic managers, whom he said had not always exercised the same discipline in deciding what to spend and where, a contrast he returned to repeatedly throughout the interview as evidence of a shift in fiscal culture.
A Push to Return Ghana to Investment Grade
Mr. Amissah Owusu said government’s broader fiscal strategy is aimed at restoring Ghana’s investment grade status, a rating he described as the country’s rightful position on international credit markets.
He linked this ambition directly to Ghana’s ongoing engagement with the International Monetary Fund under its ECF/PCI arrangement, expressing confidence that the target could be achieved within three years.
He further spoke of an effort to build long-term resilience into the economy, one strong enough to withstand future mismanagement regardless of which government holds power.
Using the phrase “idiot proof” to describe the ambition, he explained that the goal was to entrench sound fiscal practices so firmly that any future administration, whatever its political stripe, would find it difficult to unravel the gains made in the current term.
Jobs Identified as the Country’s Central Economic Challenge
Pressed on what concrete steps government has taken to address youth unemployment, Mr. Amissah Owusu was candid about the scale of the problem confronting the country, acknowledging that the current stock of jobs remains far below what the economy needs to absorb its growing youth population.
“The job situation is a big challenge. There are not enough jobs in the economy, and that is why macroeconomic stability is the foundation upon which we build.”
Minister of Finance, Mr. Fredrick Amissah Owusu
He compared the process to constructing a house, explaining that the stabilisation measures undertaken over the past eighteen months were never intended as an end in themselves, but rather as groundwork upon which job creation, business growth and fresh investment could eventually be built. Without that foundation, he argued, any attempt at large-scale job creation would risk being unsustainable.
Government to Launch New Economic Model Focused on Job Creation
Mr. Amissah Owusu revealed that President Mahama is set to unveil a new economic model before November 2026, describing it as a deliberate attempt to correct a pattern in which past periods of economic growth failed to translate into meaningful employment for the country’s youth.
He said the defining feature of the new approach would be a direct link between government spending decisions and job outcomes, effectively conditioning public expenditure on its capacity to generate employment.
He acknowledged the difficult conditions government inherited on taking office, describing the economy at the time as having derailed and standing at the edge of a cliff, before pivoting to what he framed as the next phase of government’s work now that stabilisation has taken hold.
“The actual work begins now to ensure that this stability translates to the kitchen table, translates into the pocket. That is what a lot of people want, and that is what President Mahama is going to launch.”
Minister of Finance, Mr. Fredrick Amissah Owusu
Taken together, Mr. Amissah Owusu’s remarks point to a government seeking to strike a balance between continued fiscal restraint and mounting public pressure to show tangible results, particularly around employment.
While he maintained that debt levels remain manageable and market confidence is improving, his comments suggest that government recognises stability alone will not satisfy a population eager to see economic growth reflected in actual jobs, a gap officials say the forthcoming “new economy” agenda is designed to close in the months ahead.
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