The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has faulted Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson for missing the opportunity to capture additional revenue from the small-scale mining sector despite documented growth in the industry.
Analyzing the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review, the policy think tank highlighted that the Finance Ministry did not secure anticipated fiscal returns from the sector to support national development.
Executive Director of the institute, Dr. Said Boakye, pointed to Bank of Ghana data indicating that while small-scale gold exports have grown, corresponding state revenues remain inadequate.
“It is appalling to note that the Mid-Year budget review fails to articulate government strategy on how to increase revenue from the small scale mining sector looking at how critical the sector is, and the potential it holds for our economy”, he said.
He noted that mineral revenues, particularly after local value addition, could help bridge existing budgetary deficits.
“We were told by reports from the Bank of Ghana that even the small scale mining sector generates more than the large scale and so it is very disappointing for the Finance Minister to miss the opportunity at this critical time”.
Offering recommendations, Dr. Boakye advised the government to direct public spending toward key growth-oriented infrastructure projects.
“Government expenditure has been low on key sectors and we must admit that this is happening because there’s not much revenue inflow as expected. This is likely to affect the whole budget planning because government policies are going to be affected”.
He revealed that while the government set a first-half 2026 expenditure target of GH¢172.54 billion, actual disbursements fell well short of that mark.
“The considerable underspending in the first half of 2026 relative to budget plan not only undermined the budget’s credibility but more importantly it also left much to be desired in terms of growth and development of the country.”
Dr. Boakye concluded by stressing the necessity for full execution of approved budgetary allocations.