Ken Ofori-Atta has been borrowing as if there were no tomorrow

Ghana’s unending economic turmoil is majorly attributable to the borrowing spree

embarked on by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and his team when Nana Akufo-Addo assumed power in 2017 until date.

This Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led government is known to have increased Ghana’s public debt stock from 122 billion GHS in 2016 to now about 600 billion GHS and still counting. This has led to the current debt-to-GDP being at about 98.7% within this relatively short time.

Looking at the external debt figures, this government has accumulated 382.7 billion GHS in the Eurobond market from 2018 to November 2022, leading to a junk downgrade of our economy by global rating agencies.

Ghana’s economy is not only saddled with astronomical external debt stock but also accumulated so much domestic debt. The Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) is still fresh in our minds. A number of statutory funds such as the GETFUND, ESLA, etc. have also been collateralized for several years. This is indeed worrying!

In the fourth Republic, this government is an OUTLIER in terms of the quantum of public debt incurred as compared to the Rawlings, Kuffour, Atta-Mills, and Mahama regimes.

Apart from liabilities in terms of debts, the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led regime has enjoyed tremendous revenue inflows from the existing Oil Fields and many other taxes including the three new taxes passed and signed into Law by the President.

Unlike the erstwhile NDC government, the governing NPP government cannot boast of hugely durable and impactful capital investments made in the country except to point to their struggling flagship projects such as free SHS, 1D1F, etc., which have been poorly implemented and now plagued with serious challenges.

After so much borrowing, some questions to be asked are:

What has the borrowed money been used for?

How will Ghana repay these loans taken in the few years to come after this regime?

Is this the proud nation that Ken Ofori-Atta wants Ghanaians to believe in?

If the IMF deal approval is going to take two more years, will Ken Ofori-Atta continue to be the Finance Minister until 2024?

As the idiom goes ‘Make hay while the sun shines’. This government should have known that too much borrowing for consumption and reckless spending on the nation’s meager resources was unsustainable, and prepared for hard days ahead.

However, this appeared not to be the case. The actions of this government are directly impoverishing Ghanaians and burdening the future generation with colossal debt repayment.

Ghana is now stuck in the middle of the sea and on its knees begging the Parish Club, and other bilateral Creditors for rescue. Ken Ofori-Atta has indeed borrowed Ghana into a ditch! In fact, Ghana beyond aid is now Ghana begging for Aid.