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NDC accumulated 72% of Ghana's external debt - Bawumia

According to Dr Bawumia, the debt accumulated has serious effects on the economy.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia

The 2016 running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has indicated that about 72% of Ghana's external debt stock was accumulated under Mills-Mahama government during the last seven years.

Addressing the press to respond to the 2016 budget presented by Seth Terkper, Dr Bawumia said 90% of the total debt has been accumulated NDC government from 2009 to 2015.

According to him, debt accumulated has serious effects on the economy.

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Ghana’s total debt stock, according to Mr Terkper in the budget, currently stands at GH¢92.2 billion from GH¢9.5 billion in January 2009 when the NDC took over power.

He said the borrowing by the government will eventually saddle the state with about GH¢99 billion by the end of the year.

He stated that, "The NPP’s record on economic growth compares with the uneven and recently declining growth rates achieved by the NDC Mills-Mahama, Mahama administrations. In 2009, growth rate swung down to 4.0%; in 2010 it grew at 8.0% and upped to 14.0 per cent with the onset of oil production. For 2012 the GDP growth registered 8.8%, climbing down to 7.6 in 2013 and plummeting to 4.1% in 2014. The provisional 2015 GDP growth rate is 4.1% and for the first time since the inclusion of oil revenues beginning from 2011 the non-oil component of the GDP growth of 4.2% is higher than the overall real GDP growth rate of 4.1%.

In 2014 the revised figures indicate that GDP growth rate was 4.0% same as the non-oil GDP growth."

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In the eight years of the NDC government, the size of the economy would have increased from $28.5 billion in 2008 to a projected $39.4 billion in 2016 (with oil), a 52% increase compared to the 500% increase witnessed under the NPP (without oil).

The GDP growth rate which was inherited by the NPP under the stellar leadership of President Kufuor in 2000 was 3.7%. In 2001 the GDP grew at 4.2%; in 2002 it grew at 4.5% rising to 5.2% in 2003 and to 5.6% in 2004. It rose to 5.9% in 2005, 6.4% in 2006; 6.3% in 2007 and to 8.4% in 2008.

This indeed is steady growth and it occurred without revenues from crude oil exports and in periods where the world was seeing the worst economic crisis in decades.

In the process, the size of Ghana’s economy increased from some $5.1 billion to $28.5 billion, a 500% increase."

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"Even in the face of a global economic and financial crisis in 2007/8 (with oil prices reaching a record high of $147/barrel) economic growth in 2008 rose to 8.4%. Ghana was transformed during the period of the NPP’s tenure (2001-2008) from a low income HIPC economy to a lower middle income economy on the frontiers of emerging market status."

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