The National Development Planning Commission is set to assume a central monitoring role in the implementation of the government’s proposed New Economy programme, with Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson announcing that the commission will track its progress and evaluate the extent to which its objectives are being achieved.
Dr Forson disclosed this on Monday, September 7, 2026, following an engagement with the leadership of the National Development Planning Commission, headed by its Chairman, Dr Nii Moi Thompson. He said the commission’s participation would be essential to ensuring that the government’s economic transformation agenda is properly monitored as the initiative moves from policy formulation into implementation.
The engagement forms part of the government’s preparations for the comprehensive rollout of the New Economy programme, whose full architecture is expected to be presented in the 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy in November. The initiative is intended to define the government’s economic direction beyond the stabilisation measures undertaken during the earlier phase of its administration.
According to Dr Forson, the government’s objective is to transition Ghana from a period primarily focused on restoring macroeconomic stability towards an economy characterised by stronger domestic production, expanded employment opportunities and greater wealth creation. He has maintained that the stabilisation of the economy was necessary to create the conditions for a broader transformation agenda rather than representing the ultimate destination of government policy.
The Finance Minister has further indicated that the New Economy programme will seek to strengthen Ghana’s productive capacity and establish an economic structure capable of generating sustainable opportunities for citizens. The government’s stated ambition is therefore to move beyond simply managing economic pressures and instead create an environment in which production, investment and employment can expand on a sustained basis.
President John Dramani Mahama has subsequently disclosed that the programme will be supported by an investment package of approximately US$10 billion directed towards strategic sectors of the economy. The President has also confirmed that the 2027 Budget will provide the detailed framework for the initiative, including the measures and investments through which the government intends to advance its economic transformation objectives.
The decision to involve the NDPC gives the programme an additional institutional mechanism for monitoring performance and measuring outcomes. The commission is constitutionally positioned to advise on national development planning and to assess progress in the implementation of national development programmes, making its involvement particularly significant as the government prepares to move the New Economy agenda from policy declaration to execution.
Dr Thompson and the NDPC leadership are therefore expected to play an important role in determining whether the programme’s stated objectives translate into measurable economic and social outcomes. This could include assessing progress against development priorities and providing evidence that can help government evaluate the effectiveness of its interventions as implementation proceeds.
The latest engagement also forms part of a broader series of consultations being undertaken by the Finance Ministry as preparations intensify for the 2027 Budget. Dr Forson previously began consultations with key ministries, including the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, as government works towards defining the policies and interventions that will underpin the New Economy programme.
With the full programme expected to be unveiled in November, attention is now turning towards the specific sectors that will receive investment, the mechanisms that will finance the proposed US$10 billion package and the measurable targets that will determine whether the government’s promised transition from economic stabilisation to production, employment and wealth creation is being achieved.
