Debt cancellation not license to continue borrowing

Kumasi, June 19, GNA- A Business Executive has advised government not to consider the cancellation of Ghana's debt by the international community and donor countries as an opportunity for the country to continue borrowing from the donors and countries.

Mr Opoku Agyemeng Prempeh, Managing Director of Lakayana Company, a revenue generation and debt collecting consortium, said instead, the government should take advantage of the relief and re-organise the country's revenue mobilization machinery to help generate adequate internal revenue for development.

Mr Prempeh was speaking on the impact of the debt cancellation on the Ghanaian economy in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi on Saturday.

He said "focusing on generation of our own revenue for sustenance could have a more positive and permanent impact on the development of our economy than depending on donor assistance, and cancellation of our external debts".

Mr Prempeh cautioned that donor assistance and debt canceling have a limit, and as such Ghana cannot depend on it forever. He, However, commended the "G8", industrial countries, for canceling Ghana's debt adding "no matter the conditions and strings that are attached to the cancellation of the debt, the gesture of the G8 countries is still praiseworthy".

Mr Prempeh said the only way the government and people of Ghana could show their appreciation for the gesture of the G8 countries "is for us to use the amount involved judiciously." He asked government to inject more funds into the development of education, health and the private sector of the economy.