Don’t blame the coronavirus for inflated debt – NDC to gov’t

General news for Thursday, October 29, 2020

Source: FM class

2020-10-29

The government of President Akufo-Addo cannot blame the COVID-19 pandemic for Ghana’s “worsening debt situation” because the country’s debt situation had already reached unsustainable levels before the virus began, main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). has argued.

At a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, the party’s national communication officer, Sammy Gyamfi, said that the Akufo-Addo government used the 138 billion GHS it has borrowed over the past four years. , for “consumption, corruption and waste”. “.

He said that unlike the 70 billion GHS loaned under former President John Mahama that was funneled into tangible infrastructure projects, President Nana Akufo-Addo has nothing to show for all that she has borrowed.

“It is important to make clear that the attempt by the failed Akufo Addo government to blame COVID-19 for our worsening debt is unsustainable and, to say the least, ridiculous.

“This is because our public debt was already increasing at an alarming rate and had reached unsustainable levels, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 63%, even before we were hit by the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

“Therefore, the assertion by government spokesmen that COVID-19 is what has explained our current catastrophic and unsustainable debt situation is not borne out by the facts,” Gyamfi said.

According to him, “What is even sad and strange about the unsustainable and catastrophic debt situation that President Akufo-Addo has sunk in Ghana is that this government cannot show any significant or self-financing projects for which its loans have been used. without precedents”.

“Unlike President Mahama, who can point to many tangible, significant and in some cases self-financing projects that he undertook with the $ 70 billion that he added to public debt during his tenure, President Akufo-Addo cannot boast of significant or self-financed projects that it has undertaken with the more than 138 billion GHS that it has added to the country’s public debt in the last three (3) years and a half ”, he argued.

“For example,” noted Mr. Gyamfi, “while President Mahama can boast of dozens of hospitals and health facilities such as the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge Hospital), the University of Ghana Medical Center, the Ga East Municipal Hospital, Upper West Regional Hospital, Upper East Regional Hospital rehabilitation, among others, President Akufo-Addo cannot boast of a single hospital that he has built for Ghanaians since taking office.

Furthermore, while President Mahama can boast of having started construction on 123 new Community High Schools (E-Blocks), 46 of which he fully completed, President Akufo-Addo cannot boast of a single high school that he has built. since 2017, despite its record loans.

“Worst of all, President Akufo-Addo has abandoned most of the infrastructure projects he inherited from the old Mahama government to rot.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the reason that President Akufo-Addo has so little show for the unprecedented endowment he has amassed for his government is that he has squandered most of his money on consumption, corruption and waste.

“Their misplaced priorities is what has plunged Ghana into the catastrophic debt situation and economic quagmire we currently find ourselves in,” Gyamfi said.