The ruling New Patriotic party (NPP) Chairman, Mr. Stephen Ntim has blamed the opposition NDC for promoting miscommunication about Ghana’s Debt
According Mr. Ntim, National Democratic Congress added the highest debt to Ghana’s total debt when it took over from President John Kufuor. These remarks he made at a press conference on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.
He explained by saying these false claims put out during NDC’s State of the Nation Address.
The NDC likes to promote this misinformation by computing our debt stock using nominal figures because it hides their unprecedented rate of debt accumulation. The best way to compute our debt to see which government has borrowed more by using the rate accumulation” he claimed.
He further stated that the NDC had claimed former President Kufuor inherited a debt stock of approximately GH¢5.4 billion in 2001 and added about 81 percent.
The NDC, rather inherited a debt stock of GH¢9.7 billion in 2009; by 2016, they increased it to GH¢122 billion. That represents 819 percent growth in the debt stock.
The NPP government, which the NDC characterises as having over-borrowed, has added just about 304 per cent to the debt stock.
The 304 percent of the total accumulated debt under this government includes the cost of the banking sector cleanup, energy sector debt payment and COVID-19 debt,
Official data from the Ministry of Finance shows that the nominal debt stock increased by 50% from 2013 to 2014 under Ex-President John Mahama.
For example, if Ghana owed GH¢80 billion in 2013, the John Mahama administration added GH¢40 billion, making it GHc120 billion in 2014 alone” he opined.
He said: “Yes, Ghana has a debt challenge, but it is inaccurate for the NDC to suggest that this government has over-borrowed. This misinformation was captured on page 4 of the ND’s press statement”.
His comments have come as a surprise to many Ghanaians especially the opposition NDC due to countless complaints from the public, economic analysts and the international rating agencies who have all slam government over excessive borrowing and unprecedented debt levels
