Randy Abbey, Kwesi Pratt engage in 'mathematical gymnastics' as they 'deflate' NPP chair's debt argument

Veteran Broadcaster Randy Abbey has punched holes into arguments by the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the Akufo-Addo government has not overborrowed and added the most to Ghana’s debt stock as being asserted.

Stephen Ntim had said that it is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government which has added more to Ghana’s stock than any other government.

He said that the NDC has been misinforming Ghanaians that the Akufo-Addo government has borrowed more than any other government by quoting nominal debt figures instead of the rate of debt accumulation.

"The best way to compute our debt to see which government has borrowed more is by using the rate accumulation. The NDC inherited a debt stock of GH¢9.7 billion in 2009; by 2016, they increased it to GH¢122 billion. That represents 819 per cent 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 per cent of the total accumulated debt under this government includes the cost of the banking sector cleanup, energy sector debt payment and COVID-19 debt,” Ntim said at a press conference on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

In response to this on his Good Morning Ghana programme on April 5, Randy Abbey suggested that the NPP chairman’s argument is flawed.

He said that the suggestion that the quantum of monies borrowed should be ignored and that the rate of change is more important is laughable.

“I not as brainy as he (Stephen Ntim) is but when you move from 1 to 2, the rate (of change) is 100 per cent, in nominal terms it is an increase of 1. When you move from 2 to 3, it (the rate of change) is 50 per cent, in normal terms it is 1.

“We are told that the way you don’t misinform or mislead people is to deal with the rate of accumulation. So, it is better to move from 2 to 3 than to over from 1 to 2. Because 2 to 3 is 50 per cent and 1 to 2 is 100 per cent so forget about the nominal terms because they are both an increase of 1 and focus on the rate of accumulation,” he said.

“The NPP government itself in communicating our debt and deposit to us has not communicated it in the way your party says is the right way and that the other way, which is how it has been communicated to us, constitutes misinformation and misleading statements,” he added.

Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt, who was also on the programme, laughed at the NPP chairman's suggestion and accused him of engaging in “magical Mathematics”.

Watch their interaction in the video below:



IB/KPE