World Bank, SECO Back Ghana’s Push to Strengthen Budgeting and Accountability Systems

Ghana and its development partners have unveiled a renewed, data-driven effort, SECO Support to overhaul the country’s public financial management (PFM) systems, targeting long-standing weaknesses that continue to undermine service delivery, fiscal discipline, and public trust.

Speaking at the launch, Tracy Lain, Practice Manager for Governance Global Practice in Africa West and Central at the World Bank, underscored the urgency of tightening the country’s budgeting, expenditure control, and accountability frameworks.

She noted that while Ghana boasts one of West Africa’s strongest legal and regulatory foundations for public financial management, implementation gaps have repeatedly generated fiscal stress and stalled critical projects.

According to her, overly optimistic revenue forecasts, liquidity constraints, outdated payment methods and weak enforcement of PFM rules have led to budget deviations and unmet government commitments. “Citizens pay taxes with the expectation of seeing results. When projects stall and essential services falter, that trust frays,” she said.

Lain highlighted several problem areas, including the partial use of the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), which allows some payment processes to bypass digital controls, and the mounting pile of over 17,000 ongoing public investment projects—many delayed or abandoned due to poor prioritization and insufficient funding alignment.

The performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) also came under scrutiny. Many SOEs, she said, pose significant fiscal risks, fail to deliver reliable public services, and largely do not remit dividends to the state, despite their statutory obligations.

“These weaknesses translate directly into poor outcomes: delayed salaries, erratic utilities, stalled community projects, and rising social frustration,” Lain warned.

Local government capacity remains another stumbling block.

Despite years of investment, district assemblies still struggle with budgeting, planning, and timely reporting, often relying on unpredictable transfers from the central government. This, she noted, limits the delivery of essential services closest to citizens.

The new PFM reform program—supported by the World Bank, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and other development partners—aims to confront these challenges head-on.

It will deepen ongoing reform efforts under Ghana’s PFM Strategy and strengthen the link between financial governance and real-world service delivery outcomes.

SECO’s Head of Cooperation in Ghana emphasized Switzerland’s commitment to helping Ghana sharpen its economic governance systems.

The initiative follows the launch of Switzerland’s 2025–2028 Cooperation Programme and aligns with broader efforts to improve decentralization, audit compliance, and SOE performance.

She noted that Ghana remains a regional frontrunner in growth but faces persistent PFM challenges that demand bold and creative solutions.

“How do we ensure expenditures in education and health are efficiently utilized? How do we ensure audit infractions do not rise? How do we make SOEs financially sound and well-governed?” she asked.

The reform program will adopt problem-driven, collaborative and evidence-led approaches, using micro-level data to diagnose inefficiencies and guide implementation.

Development partners urged government agencies to revitalize coordination structures and demonstrate strong commitment to sustaining the reforms.

With the 2025 revisions to Ghana’s PFM framework approaching and a new wave of leadership across institutions, officials described the moment as a pivotal turning point. The hope, they stressed, is that improved financial discipline and transparent spending will ultimately translate into better schools, health facilities, infrastructure and services for citizens.