ADVERTISEMENT

PAC Chairman accuses Finance Minister of deceiving Parliament on public debt

In the 2017 budget statement, the Finance Minister said the country’s debt as at December 2016 stood at GH¢122 billion.

However, in the 2016 report of the Controller and Accountant General (CAG) on the consolidated fund, it reported that the debt stood at GH¢120 billion.

Mr Avedzi pointed out the discrepancies in the figures to Deputy Minister of Finance, Mrs Abena Osei Asare when she appeared before the committee.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mr Avedzi accused Mr Ofori-Atta of deliberately deceiving the House.

“Our domestic debt was GH¢52.179 billion and external was GH¢68.149 billion. The two put together will give you GH¢120.3 billion.”

“The accounts of the Controller and Accountant General confirmed GH¢120 billion and the auditor also verified and confirmed that figure. My question is, why did your minister say GH¢122billion when the actual debt was GH¢120 billion?”

But explaining the issue, Mrs Osei Asare said the reason for the discrepancy, was that the ministry used the exchange rate as that time to arrive at the GH¢122 billion.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Yes, our minister confirmed GH¢122 billion, but you know that a lot of these debts are foreign-based or denominated and so these exchange rates differ. My minister reported this in March 2017 based on the current exchange rate at that time,” she stated.

“Anytime you are quoting your current liabilities, you need to quote it at the current rate. Certainly, Ghana took some loans way back in 1999. We cannot use the exchange rate of 1999 when we are talking about that loan and making some repayment. So, certainly, he will use the current exchange rate," she added.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT