No rating agency has been reckless with rating Ghana - Banking Consultant

Researcher and Banking Consultant, Dr Richmond Atuahene, has stated that international rating agencies have not been reckless in their ratings of the Ghanaian economy.

According to him, there has not been a time when the agencies have downgraded the country unfairly.

He noted that the problem instead with the Ghanaian economy is over-borrowing and the country’s inability to manage its finances properly.

Speaking in a JoyBusiness interview on July 2, the Banking consultant said: "We have received positive ratings over the past 60 years that have even enabled us to borrow consistently from the international market. At least the last one was in 2021, we borrowed 3 billion. It was rated as B+ by Fitch. So, the issue is that we have not managed our debts very well. Unfortunately, it seems that it’s either we have over-borrowed or refused to put the necessary measures in place.

“So, in 2020, we were downgraded 11 times by these 3 rating agencies [Fitch, Moody’s, and S&P], the last one came in when the government decided in December that it was going to suspend interest payments in addition to the domestic debts. Then the country was actually proclaimed to have defaulted,” he intimated.

Atuahene further added that per research he has conducted over the period from 2003 till date, there have been no inconsistencies in the ratings that have been meted out to Ghana.

“I have not seen anywhere that the rating agencies have been reckless,” he said.

He added that the agencies rate Ghana using the same metrics they use for other developing countries.

Earlier, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo stated that Africa’s problems have been exacerbated due to what he calls “reckless downgrades” by rating agencies.

According to him, the downgrades have impeded the chances of African countries to access financial assistance on the international market.

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