ADVERTISEMENT

Gabby Otchere-Darko says Ghana’s economy better under Akufo-Addo than Mahama despite GHC236.1bn debt stock

A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has said that President Akufo-Addo is a better manager of Ghana’s economy that his predecessor, John Mahama.

Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko

Mr Otchere-Darko said this is despite the country’s debt stock rising from GHC122.2 billion at the end of 2016 to GHC236 billion at the end of March 2020.

Gabby, as he is popularly referred to, said Ghana is currently seeing the lowest rate of debt accumulation since President Kufuor handed over to President John Mills.

In a Facebook post, the president’s cousin and the founder of the Danquah Institute said Ghana's debt stock has been managed better under the Akufo-Addo government than the previous eight years when the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was in power.

He explained in a Facebook post that: “For example, between Jan 2009 and Jan 2013, Ghana’s debt stock increased by 267%, from GHS9.7 billion to GHS35.6 billion, respectively. Between Jan 2013 and Jan 2017, the increase was 243% – from 35.6 billion to 122.2 billion cedis.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“We still have 7 months to go to know where it will end us, but as of March 2020, the increase in debt stock since the NPP took office had been kept under 100%. The NDC average was 255% every 4 years.”

Meanwhile, the Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson, has called on Ghanaians to vote out President Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) because of the growing public sector debt under their watch.

In a statement, Ato Forson said President Akufo-Addo's debt accumulation is almost equal to Ghana's entire public debt since independence.

“It is even more troubling to note that if the public debt is shared among all Ghanaians, each of us owe a whopping GHS7,836.00. I have been looking at the Summary of Economic and Financial Data for May 2020 as put out by the Bank of Ghana. It is intriguing to observe that Ghana's total debt stock as of March 2020 stands at GHS236.1 billion.”

“The data further reveals that Ghana’s debt increased from GHS120.3 billion in December 2016 to GHS236.1 billion by 31st March 2020.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“Despite his vociferous public debt politics in opposition, President Akufo-Addo has added some GHS116 billion to our public debt in just 3 years and a few months. Indeed, we have to #KickNanaOut”, adding: “Analysed closely, President Akufo-Addo's debt accumulation is almost akin to Ghana's entire public debt since independence. It is even more troubling to note that if the public debt is shared among all Ghanaians, each of us owes a whopping GHS7,836.00.”

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT