Cassiel Ato Forson, MP, Ejumako Enyan Essiam
Ranking member of the finance committee in Parliament and former Deputy Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson has warned Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta of a possible sentence to jail if the government continues to borrow and stockpile Ghana’s public debt.
Contributing on the debate of the 2019 mid-year budget review on Tuesday, Mr Forson referred the Finance Minister to the Fiscal Responsibility Law which takes effect in December this year and added Ofori-Ata could be the first to feel the wrath of the law.
“You’ll be sentenced,” the Ejumako Enyan Essiam Legislator said as he warned Mr Ofori-Atta that he risked being jailed should he (Finance Minister) fails to adhere to the law.
The former minister said the government was only borrowing to take of government consumption.
“The government is borrowing for consumption…What I call chop chop,” he added with passion.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta announced Monday, “the gross public debt stock in nominal terms stood at GH¢204 billion (US$38.7 billion) as at end-June 2019, representing 59.2 per cent of GDP.”
The increase in debt, he noted, was mainly as a result of frontloading the financing requirements for 2019 in the first quarter.
