The cost of living remains a major concern for businesses and citizens despite Ghana’s improved macroeconomic environment, a new KPMG and UNDP pre-budget survey has found.
About 54% of respondents selected the cost of living as a national priority they want the 2027 budget to address, placing it second only to jobs and youth employment, which was selected by 71%.
The finding points to a gap between improving economic indicators and the financial pressures households and businesses continue to experience.
KPMG notes that Ghana enters the 2027 budget cycle from a stronger macroeconomic position, with firm growth and materially lower inflation. But businesses still report pressure from utility costs, rent, working capital constraints and uneven purchasing power.
Weak purchasing power still hurting businesses
The report’s focus group discussions found that weak purchasing power remains a concern for small businesses even as the broader economy stabilises.
Some firms said conditions had improved, but others continued to struggle to sell their products and finance their daily operations.
That creates a problem for businesses trying to expand.
A company may face lower inflation and improving financing conditions but still hesitate to invest if customers cannot afford its products.
KPMG and UNDP therefore argue that the budget should connect economic stability to productive activity and household livelihoods rather than treating stability as an end in itself.
About 70% of respondents are confident about their organisation’s growth prospects in 2027, but only 47% said operating-cost conditions had improved.
Electricity and rental costs were among the continuing pressures identified during the focus group sessions.
Targeted support preferred
The report recommends that government respond to employment and affordability pressures through targeted measures rather than broad interventions that create large fiscal costs.
It proposes support for labour-intensive, commercially viable production alongside temporary protection for vulnerable households facing price or service shocks.
Government programmes, KPMG and UNDP argue, should have clear eligibility rules and systems capable of determining whether they actually improve household resilience.
The findings come as government prepares to unveil its New Economy programme, which is expected to place greater emphasis on jobs, investment, domestic production and private sector growth.
For respondents, however, the success of that transition will ultimately be measured in more practical terms.
Lower inflation matters, but so does the amount of income left after households pay for food, transport, rent, electricity and other necessities.
The survey covered businesses and professionals across nine regions and 13 industries and was supplemented by focus group discussions. KPMG and UNDP caution that the findings should not be treated as statistically representative of Ghana’s entire population.
Still, the survey offers a clear warning ahead of the budget: macroeconomic stability has improved, but affordability remains unfinished business.
READ ALSO: 2027 Budget: Government Rules Out New Taxes
