Businesses want budget to address exchange rate volatility, debt, and unemployment – PwC Ghana Boss

The Country Senior Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Ghana, Vish Ashiagbor, has urged the government to prioritise macroeconomic concerns affecting businesses, including currency and exchange rate volatility, debt management, interest rates, and unemployment.

According to him, these top five challenges are the key issues businesses expect the 2025 Financial Budget to tackle.

“The top five things that businesses are concerned about and are looking forward to the budget providing solutions to [are] currency or exchange rate volatility, the debt strengthening of the cedi, which is basically tied to exchange rate, and then, of course, interest rates, and a reduction in unemployment,” he stated.

Mr Ashiagbor’s remarks were based on a survey conducted by PwC, which assessed business expectations ahead of the 2025 Financial Budget presented last week by the Minister of Finance.

Speaking at PwC’s Ghana National Budget Digest 2025, he highlighted that businesses believe the informal sector should contribute more in taxes. Additionally, they anticipate expenditure cuts, particularly in public sector payroll and government spending on goods and services.

He explained that businesses want a more balanced and efficient allocation of resources to drive sustainable economic growth.

Mr Ashiagbor also noted that businesses have identified key priority sectors that should receive greater investment and policy support. These include energy, agriculture, transportation and infrastructure, the cocoa sector, and education.

“Business leaders believe that we should be focusing on energy, agriculture, transport, or, broadly speaking, infrastructure—because energy also falls into the infrastructure category,” he said.

He stressed that these sectors are critical drivers of economic growth and would significantly contribute to national development if adequately supported.