Akufo-Addo will take Ghana back to HIPC – Mahama

The flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama has said the New Patriotic Party will thrust Ghana into debt distress.

Speaking on Woezor TV on Thursday, Mahama raised concerns on the need for a controlled borrowing.

He believes the indiscriminate borrowing by the incumbent government could push Ghana back to Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC).

“Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has borrowed so much [to a tune of] ¢140 billion in four years, sometimes I think about it and just imagine what I would have done with ¢140 billion, I borrowed ¢56 billion and I mean the evidence is there for all to see. If I had ¢140billion in four years, this country would be at the next level.

John Mahama expressed fear of the country’s debt stock rising as he said “ our debt to GDP should be going somewhere closer to 80%.

“Debt distress is what we are facing now, even the World Bank and IMF have all been ringing the bells that we are getting close to becoming a HIPC again,” he indicated.

The latest Summary of Macroeconomic and Financial Data Ghana’s reveals that, the country’s total public debt stock has jumped by 1.66 per cent to hit ¢263.1 billion in July 2020.

But, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has defended government’s borrowing noting that there is a lot to show for the money taken.

In an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosissen Tuesday, Dr Bawumia explained that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, government had to seek financial assistance to cushion Ghanaians who were badly hit by the health crisis.