A Deputy Finance Minister John Kumah has jumped to the defense of the numerous borrowing by the government.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo with NDC flagbearer John Mahama
He has revealed that the NPP government is borrowing to settle debts incurred by the government led by former President John Mahama.
His reactions come after Mahama blamed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the high level of public sector debts that has consumed the country.
According to him, Ghana’s debt has ballooned to unsustainable levels- topping 80% of GDP- exposing the country to a very high risk of debt default.
Almost all of the tax revenue, he said, is used to service debt and the effect has been the introduction of several new taxes. This has led to rampant increments in the prices of goods and services.John Kumah
Speaking at the state of the economy forum organised by the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) pro-forum on Monday, September 6, 2021, Mahama said “I am on record to have predicted in November 2016 that, due to the work we had done to overcome the economic headwinds and the coming on stream of two additional oil fields, economic growth will go past 7% in 2017 and beyond. This was confirmed by the World Bank and IMF, predicting growth above 8% for the same period.”
But John Kumah said the borrowing during the COVID-19 era is being done by many countries across the world adding that the monies borrowed were used to settle Mahama’s debts.
He said “…if he talks about increases in borrowing, yes we have seen that but much of this borrowing went to address the debts he [John Mahama] left behind, the take or pay contracts he signed in the energy sector and the billions that we have paid. We spent about 25 billion cedis trying to save the banks.”
“So, if we have borrowed, we have borrowed because he plunged this country into a very difficult situation that we needed to redeem. And that we have done and have shown competence in the management of this country.
“It’s only Ghana that we are making borrowing in the COVID-19 era a political matter,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Starr FM.
