About 22 laws introduced to lock in reforms and protect Ghana’s economic gains – Ato Forson

Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson says the government has introduced about 22 laws over the past 18 months to make its reforms last and protect the economic stability Ghanaians have sacrificed to achieve.

He said the aim is to prevent future governments from reversing the progress made and taking the country back to the pain and hardship of the 2022–2024 economic crisis.

Dr. Forson spoke during a New Economy engagement at the University of Ghana, where he outlined efforts to give the Government’s reforms a lasting legal foundation.

He was responding to Prof. Fred Dzanku, Head of the Economics Division at the university’s Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), who asked how “some of these brilliant policies and agenda” could be institutionalised.

“I try to introduce a lot of laws. In the last 18 months, we have introduced about 22 laws,” Dr. Forson said.

The Minister explained that the process involved introducing legislation, repealing existing laws and making amendments to protect the reforms against reversal.

“We are trying to put these reforms into law,” he said.

According to Dr. Forson, Government was also pursuing amendments to require a two-thirds majority in Parliament to change some of the laws, making it harder for future administrations to undo the reforms.

“So, we are locking in the progress,” he added.

The Minister said his experience in Parliament and policymaking had shaped his understanding of how to sustain reforms beyond the tenure of a particular government.

“I am in a unique position to understand how the issue of sustainability can be tackled because of my parliamentary experience and policy experience,” he said.

He observed that policies were easier for a government to change when they were not backed by law, underscoring the need to turn reform commitments into legal requirements.

Dr. Forson cited ongoing amendments to the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act as part of that effort.

“So, the PFM Act is being amended. Some of the things we are doing are being institutionalised, and we are putting it into law to lock in the sustainability,” he explained.