It is normal to inherit empty coffers

The New Patriotic Party should not have expected to meet any surplus in the national coffers, Mr Victor Selormey, a former Deputy Minister of Finance is reported by the Evening News as having stated.

According to him, it is normal to inherit empty coffers when the national resources cannot meet government expenditures.

Speaking at a news conference in Accra on Thursday, to explain the NDC's position on the government accounts and the current fuel pricing situation, he said: "It is surprising that the impression is being created as if the NDC government deliberately attempted to sabotage the new government by depleting the state coffers."

Mr Selormey denied allegations levelled against the NDC by the NPP government that it deliberately emptied the coffers before leaving office.

"We in the NDC continuously informed the people of Ghana about the shortfalls in revenues generated from the sales of cocoa and gold, and this manifested itself in the non-payment of various government bills that were due," he said.

He said since he joined government in 1993 there had never been a surplus in the budget, a clear indication that there were not enough resources to meet the needs of Ghanaians.

Commenting on the fuel situation in the country, Mr Selormey stated that there was absolutely no reason at this time for panic increases in fuel prices and that the obvious implications of such increases would be the destabilization of the cedi and consequent worsening of the inflationary situation.