Mohammed Amin Adam challenges government’s jobs promise in budget critique

Mohammed Amin Adam has challenged the government’s claim that its “New Economy” programme can deliver the jobs young people are seeking, arguing that the growth forecast in the 2027 Budget falls short of what is needed. The Karaga MP’s criticism followed the budget presentation by Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson, according to the report. Speaking for the Minority, Adam questioned the difference between the economy’s baseline growth estimate of 4.9 per cent and the projected 5.2 per cent for 2027. He argued that the programme would add only 0.3 percentage points to growth, a contribution he described as unrealistic for an initiative presented as ambitious. “The Budget therefore does not address the immediate demand for jobs,” Adam said, according to the report. He added that the projected rate offered little hope to unemployed young people, saying stronger growth was needed to create meaningful employment. Adam also pointed to a reported slowdown in non-oil growth, which he said mattered because sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture create jobs. The figures he cited showed non-oil growth easing from 8.2 per cent in the first half of 2025 to 5.9 per cent in the first half of 2026. He said the decline suggested that productive economic activity was losing momentum. The article also carried a reader’s reaction suggesting that employment gains might come later, once markets under the proposed 24-hour economy are completed. The commenter referred to a plan described as “1-3-3”: one job shared by three people working three shifts. That response was a public comment, not part of Adam’s remarks. The dispute puts the budget’s growth assumptions and the timing of job creation under scrutiny. Adam’s central argument was that a modest forecast increase does not show how the programme will meet the immediate expectations of young people looking for work.