Debt Management: Mahama Did Better Than Akufo-Addo – PPP Veep Candidate

Listen to this article Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Vice Presidential Candidate for the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Kofi Asamoah Siaw, has noted that the Akufo-Addo administration has performed poorly in managing the public sector debt as against what the previous Mahama administration did.

He said when it comes to the management of the debt, former President Mahama did far better than what is being witnessed at the moment..

He told Berla Mundi in an interview on the Elections 360 program on TV3 Tuesday, October 20 that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are unable to campaign on the back of debt and borrowing ahead of the December 7 elections as a result of their poor performance in managing the situation.

“Bawumia has stopped talking about the debt because he has done worse than Mahama. Nana Akufo-Addo has borrowed more than Mahama. That is why they are not talking about it again,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Dean of Business School at the University of Cape Coast, Professor John Gatsi, has said the rate of borrowing by the government of Ghana should not be a concern.

Rather, he said, the impact of the debt and borrowing on the economy is what must be discussed to determine whether or not the rising level of borrowing is apt for the country.

There is a growing concern regarding Ghana’s increasing debt stock, which currently stands at about 68.3 percent of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), gradually inching close to the 70 percent dreaded threshold.

The latest Summary of Macroeconomic and Financial Data issued by the Bank of Ghana noted that Ghana’s total public debt stock is now GH¢263.1 billion equivalent to $46.3 billion in July 2020.

Analysts and financial institutions including the Bretton Woods institutions have raised concerns about the rising debt in Ghana.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund said prior to the outbreak of the pandemic that the growing debt poses challenges to the fiscal economy.

By: 3 News