“National budgets are essentially vehicles for the implementation of the aspirations, goals and objectives of a nation. Such aspirations find expression in national plans. Prior to 2001, the Ghana Vision 2020 document encapsulated the government’s strategy and vision for growth and development. The realization of this vision however, required the implementation, through the budget, of the Vision 2020 action plan. The absence of this critical link, coupled with the failure to cost the programmes and projects outlined in the Medium Term Development Plan, were instrumental in the failure to realize the objectives and targets of the Vision 2020 programme. Thus, a critical test of the 2002 budget is the extent to which it incorporates the spirit of the government’s key planning document: the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS).”
