Public Finance and the SDGs in Ghana

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require financing and domestic revenue generation to be realised. SDG 17 requires partnerships to attract finance, technology, capacity building, trade and resolve systemic issues. In Ghana, the SDGs are shaping national budgeting because the budget is aligned to the SDGs. Therefore, there is a need to assess how partnerships related to financing have helped in achieving the SDGs. This chapter examines how Ghana's drive to attain the SDGs is influenced by public finance. The chapter draws on qualitative data collected through interviews with key personnel at the Ghana Revenue Authority, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the Ghana E-Governance Project, and Ghana Investment Promotion Council. The study finds that the national budgeting and revenue targets of Ghana are motivated by the need to achieve sustainable development goals for each year but this was not the case with trade and e-governance in the country. However, the e-governance project provides data to measure the progress the country has made towards achieving targets of the SDGs. The chapter contributes to the literature on the relationship between the SDGs and the national fiscal environment, as well as investment and trade.