The New Patriotic Party (NPP), while conceding that Ghana has a debt challenge, has described as inaccurate the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) allegation that “this government has over-borrowed.”
According to the ruling party, the borrowing narrative the NDC keeps propagating is a product of a misleading computation of Ghana’s debt designed to misinform and mischaracterise the record of this government.
He has however assured that “We (government) shall fix the economy. We have done it before in 2001 and 2017; we will fix the economy again.”
Addressing a packed-beyond-capacity conference at the Alisa Hotel in Accra yesterday, National Chairman of the NPP, Stephen Ayesu Ntim, said government had managed the economy diligently before the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
He said when the NPP took over the reins of Government in 2001, it succeeded in rebuilding the economy at the time and assured that the Government would overcome the current economic challenges.
Mr Ntim said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war on the economy was undeniable.
“Before Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War, the NPP government recorded an impressive 7 per cent average GDP growth for three fiscal years 2017-2019. Had Covid-19 not happened, Ghana’s economy would have continued to grow into 2020, and the story of Ghana’s economy today would not be one of hardship but of growth and prosperity,” he said.
According to the NPP National Chairman, the ravaging impact of Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War on the global economy are visible all around us, “But somehow, the NDC has refused to acknowledge or admit this fact to continue misinforming Ghanaians that this government has mismanaged the economy.”
Ghana’s GDP growth was estimated to have slowed to 3.2 per cent in 2022, down from 5.4 per cent in 2021. The economy is projected to grow at 2.8 per cent in 2023.
Mr Ntim said government was determined to turn the economy around and appealed to the public to disregard what he described as “misinformation” and “distortions” about the performance of the Government.
He said government was not happy about the rate of inflation and its impact on businesses, adding that the situation was a global challenge.
The NPP also rejected claims that the government had over-borrowed and indicated that the best way to compute the country’s debt stock was to measure the rate of accumulation and not the nominal figures.
“Former President Kuffuor inherited a debt stock of GH¢5.4 billion in 2001 and added about 81 per cent. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) inherited a debt stock of GH¢9.7 billion in 2009; by 2016, the NDC increased it to GH¢122 billion.
“That represents 819 per cent growth in the debt stock. The NPP government, which the NDC characterises as having over-borrowed, has added about 304 per cent to the debt stock,” Mr Ntim said.
The Party said it had a record of accomplishment in rebuilding the economy and rallied the citizenry to keep faith with the Government and support its programmes and policies to fast-track the restoration agenda.
Responding to criticisms about the number of staff stationed at the Presidency, Mr Ntim said out of a total of 995 workers at the Presidency, 658, representing 66 per cent were public sector employees.
He said discussions about the state of the nation must be devoid of “propaganda” and cautioned that the adoption of such approaches with the aim of clinching power could undermine public confidence in democracy.
The country has also been battling with high inflation for months, with current inflation standing at 52.8 per cent.
Ghana has approached the International Monetary Fund for Balance of Payment Support and efforts are underway to secure Executive Board approval as soon as possible.
