Total expenditure as of July 2026 amounted to GH¢147.07bn, 16% below target – BoG

In July 2026, the government's total expenditure reached GH¢147.077 billion, falling short of its target by 16.4% - a figure of GH¢175.9319 million. The compensation paid to employees was GH¢50.553 billion, undershooting the GH¢52.943 billion target by 4.5%. However, this amount saw a 12.6% increase compared to the same period last year.

Government spending on goods and services amounted to GH¢5.482 billion, which was 63.4% higher than the expected GH¢7.897 billion. This was primarily due to the year-on-year growth in the government's expenditure. Interest payments totaled GH¢25.171 billion, which was 12.3% below the budgeted GH¢34.117 billion, a significant drop from GH¢28.686 billion in the same period of 2025.

This reduction was mainly due to lower domestic interest costs and some Eurobond payments made ahead of schedule in 2025. Grants to other government entities totaled GH¢30.611 billion, a 1.6% decrease from the GH¢35.866 billion target. The capital expenditure was also 25% lower than the programmed target at GH¢24.228 billion, which represented a 157.9% increase compared to the corresponding period of 2025.

Other expenditure was 13.4% below the target, falling from GH¢8,107 billion in the same period of 2025. The report attributes the improved interest payments to favorable macroeconomic conditions, a stable Ghana cedi, and front-loading of some payments made in December 2025 that were originally scheduled for 2026. The decreased spending on goods and services was mainly due to reduced administrative spending, demonstrating the government's ongoing commitment to efficiency and value for money.

The overall capital expenditure decrease was attributed to the implementation of the commitment authorization policy, requiring payments for completed projects only upon invoice submission by contractors.