Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson explained that Ghana’s ability to weather four major economic shocks in 2026 was thanks to fiscal and external buffers built in 2025. The measures, he said, strengthened the economy’s capacity to absorb unexpected disruptions and prevented a potential crisis.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Friday, November 13, Dr Forson named the four shocks that tested the economy this year: a fall in world market cocoa prices, flooding in June, a fire at the Akosombo switchyard, and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz.
The decline in international cocoa prices was highlighted as a particularly significant shock that could have plunged the country into an economic crisis under normal circumstances. Flooding across parts of the country on June 29 created additional risks of unplanned government expenditure for emergency interventions and reconstruction.
Dr Forson also cited the fire at the Akosombo switchyard, which stranded more than 1,020 megawatts of electricity generation capacity, and the disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz that pressured economies worldwide.
“Obviously, because of the measures we put in place in 2025, we built both external and fiscal buffers. These buffers are necessary, and we built them in 2025. And that is why we’ve been able to go through these difficulties,” he said. He added that the 2025 measures gave the country the financial room needed to absorb the 2026 shocks.
