Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson says he has no appetite for rushing back to the international capital market for loans, insisting Ghana must break the cycle of reckless borrowing.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express after presenting the 2026 Budget, Dr Forson said Ghana’s long-standing addiction to external borrowing has hurt the economy for years.
“It has been Ghana’s problem, borrowing, borrowing, sometimes borrowing for consumption,” he said.
He stressed that he will not repeat the pattern. “I’m not one of those people. I’m not in a hurry to go to the capital market to borrow, no way,” he told host Evans Mensah.
Dr Forson explained that any borrowing under his watch will focus on domestic options.
“If I’m to take money, obviously there’s a budget, there’s a deficit to a stent, and you have to finance the deficit. I will take it domestically,” he said.
He argued that Ghana must build its own financing system for infrastructure.
“We should be able to borrow and set up a domestic infrastructure board in cedi, so that you, if you have money and you want to support infrastructure, you should be able to support government,” he said.
He added that this model is safer and cheaper than constant dependence on foreign markets.
While acknowledging that some future liability management may be necessary, Dr Forson was clear about the direction he intends to take.
“The appetite is not going into the capital market just to borrow. Like in the past, we saw it 3 billion every year.”
He said any borrowing must be deliberate and growth-focused.
“You want to borrow smart, what does that mean? Borrow for things that you think the multiplier is better,” he said. “Let me put it simpler, not to borrow for shopping, okay, borrow for growth.”
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