Seth Terkper, former finance minister
Former Minister of Finance Seth Terkper has disputed claims that President Akufo-Addo's administration has outperformed John Dramani Mahama's government in terms of economic achievements.
He argues that assertions made by the ruling New Patriotic Party are misleading and fail to acknowledge the financial buffers and funds left by Mahama's government, including the remainder of the 2015 IMF Extended Credit Facility (ECF).
In a post shared on X, formerly Twitter on July 29, 2024 the former finance minister emphasized that the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA) and the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), which have been collecting taxes since the 2015 IMF ECF, were collateralized and are now in default.
He said this in response to comments made by the Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Abena Osei-Asare, who suggested that the NPP had not derailed from the current IMF program like the NDC did before leaving office in 2016.
Terkper, however, pointed out that during Mahama's tenure from 2014 to 2016, efforts were made to reduce national debt, including the utilization of the Sinking Fund to manage obligations, such as the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) 2017 bond.
“From 2014-16, John Mahama’s government was reducing debt, including NPP's 2017 Bond, with the Sinking Fund. By comparison, the legacy ahead at end-2024 is default, "haircut," and passing debt obligations [through suspension] to be paid by future governments and generations,” he wrote.
The former finance minister noted that the Sinking and Contingency Funds, along with the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), were "home-grown" measures that were not imposed by the IMF.
He pointed out that these reserves were not prominent in the ECF 2015 discussions with the IMF, adding that commercial lenders did not easily offer concessions during Board approvals and reviews.
Seth Terkper urged the ruling NPP government to refrain from making what he considers to be false claims about their economic achievements.
See his posts below:
A] This idea that NADAA's Govt did better than JM's is turning ridiculous. The funds/buffers left by JM include the rest of IMF ECF 2015 money. The alleged non-performance has NPP's 2.3% of GDP "OFFSET" it forged & added to the 2016 deficit [posted here].https://t.co/TPWC2PmPg3
— Seth E Terkper (@SethTerkper) July 29, 2024
B] From 2014-16, JM's Govt was reducing debt, including NPP's 2017 Bond, with the Sinking Fund. By comparison, the legacy ahead at end-2024 is default, "haircut" and passing debt obligation [thro' suspension] to be paid by future governments and generations.
— Seth E Terkper (@SethTerkper) July 29, 2024
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