HIPC accusations will affect Ghana’s development – Kofi Tonto

Business News for Thursday, October 29, 2020

Source: e.TV Ghana

2020-10-29

Former President John Dramani Mahama has said that Ghana has returned to being a highly indebted poor country (HIPC) under the administration of President Akufo-Addo.

According to Mr. Mahama, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted Ghana’s current debt and indebtedness rate at a debt-to-GDP ratio of 76.7%.

This, according to Mahama, has returned the nation to the days of the HIPC Initiative.

“Contrary to the impression that Nana Akufo-Addo gave me that she did not inherit anything from me and that she inherited a disaster, I left her with income from two new oil fields: the TEN field and the ENI Sankofa fields.

“I left him with $ 270 million in the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund. I left him with more than $ 207 million in the Stabilization Fund and around $ 300 million in the Sinking Fund with which the final payment of the Kufuor euro bond was paid at maturity in 2017, ”said Mahama.

But the government has discredited claims that the country has once again been classified in the category of highly indebted poor countries (HIPCs).

The government has described the news as fake and fake news.

Speaking on the Happy Morning Show (HMS), Nation Building spokesman Kofi Tonto stated that the trend will not affect the ruling PNP government ahead of the 2020 general election. “HIPC’s allegations will not affect the central nuclear. But it will affect Ghana’s development, so we must exercise caution. Accusations that Ghana will join the HIPC initiative should be treated with disdain. “

Kofi Tonto also said that it is impossible for Ghana to return to HIPC “The HIPC program was something unique, which means that Ghana will never be able to return to HIPC.”

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has denied classifying Ghana as a HIPC based on data on its website.

According to the IMF, any news in this regard “can be misleading.”