Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has placed value for money at the heart of the New Economy agenda, saying Ghana cannot afford to waste resources needed to create opportunities for its young people.
Addressing faculty and students at the University of Ghana, Dr Forson said the programme’s investments must be judged by their ability to create jobs, strengthen businesses and improve livelihoods.
“The New Economy must be disciplined because the future of young people is too important for waste,” he declared.
“Every cedi must work. Every project must pass the test of value for money.”
The Finance Minister outlined five questions against which investments must be assessed: “Will it raise productivity? Will it create jobs? Will it expand exports? Will it support private enterprise? Will it improve the lives of Ghanaians?”
“If it cannot answer these questions, then it does not belong at the centre of this transformation,” he said.
His remarks linked spending discipline directly to the prospects of young Ghanaians, making productive investment and employment central tests of the programme’s success.
Dr. Forson also stressed that discipline must be accompanied by the ambition to confront the country’s challenges.
“It must be bold because the scale of the problem is large,” he said.
He then called for national participation in delivering the programme, emphasising that government could not achieve economic transformation on its own.
“And it must be national because transformation cannot be carried by government alone.”