Ghana’s performance in budget transparency has declined, according to the International Budget Partnership’s Open Budget Survey Report for 2025.
Ghana’s score fell from 46% in 2023 to 22%, well below Sub-Saharan Africa’s average of 38, undermining citizens and civil society’s ability to engage with and hold the government accountable for its spending decisions.
Ghana, however, made marginal gains in terms of public participation in the budget process and oversight of the budget by key state institutions. The country’s score for public participation increased slightly from 17% in 2023 to 22% in 2025, while it obtained a score of 33%, as against 28% in 2023.
The 2025 Open Budget Survey was conducted through independent expert assessments, peer reviews, and standardized scoring, covering 82 countries, making it the world’s only independent, comparative, fact-based instrument for assessing budget openness.
For Ghana, the report highlights a delay in publishing the Executive’s Budget Proposal and Citizens’ Budget online, and the inconsistent release of the In-Year Reports. While there were public consultations and audit-related engagements, the opportunities for public participation remain limited as citizens and civil society groups are largely excluded from budget hearings and monitoring.
The report also shows that audit oversight, though improving, is still constrained because Ghana lacks an independent fiscal institution to provide nonpartisan fiscal analysis, and Parliamentary oversight also remains weak.
To restore transparency, deepen citizen participation, and strengthen oversight, the government should endeavour to publish all key budget documents online promptly, expand parliamentary hearings to civil society, underrepresented communities, and the public, and establish mechanisms for them to monitor budget implementation.
In addition, an independent fiscal institution should be established to provide impartial fiscal analysis, and Parliament should take steps to strengthen its oversight of budget preparation and implementation.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
