The Minister of Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has raised concerns over the dire state of Ghana’s cocoa industry, describing it as being “on its knees” due to unsustainable debts.
“COCOBOD’s outstanding debt stands at 32 billion Cedis. The cocoa sector is sadly on its knees, with unsustainable debts.
Cocoa production had dropped nearly by 50 per cent over the past three years,” he revealed while presenting the 2025 budget to Parliament on Tuesday, March 11.
Despite the bleak outlook, Dr. Forson assured Ghanaians that the government remains committed to turning the economy around.
“He will fix the economy, restore hope and build the Ghana we want,” the Finance Minister stated.
Touching on fiscal discipline, he emphasized that the government would adhere to budgetary limits.
“We will respect the limit of the appropriations as approved by Parliament. We will be presenting the 24-hour economy policy to Parliament in due course,” he added.
The government’s next steps regarding the cocoa sector and broader economic reforms are expected to be outlined in further parliamentary engagements.
