Ghana in a perilous debt situation under NPP – Kwabena Duffour

Dr. Duffour, who is a leading member of the opposition NDC, believes the borrowing under the Akufo-Addo-led government has been unprecedented.

In a note, he pointed out that the NPP government has borrowed more in the six years than the erstwhile NDC administration did in eight years.

Dr Kwabena Duffuor Pulse Ghana

Dr. Duffour was responding to claims made by the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, which suggested the NPP’s borrowing was better than the NDC’s.

“Ghana’s public debt stock stood at GH¢351.8 billion as at end-2021. The debt stock increased from GH¢9.8 billion in 2008 to GH¢36.0 billion in 2012 and then to GH¢122.3 billion at end-2016. By the end of 2021, the debt stock had reached GH¢351.8 billion,” he noted.

This, he said, means that “the NPP Government from 2001–2008 left a debt stock of GH¢9.8 billion in 2008 and that “under the current NPP Government, the debt stock has increased by GH¢229.5 billion from 2017–2021.”

Dr. Kwabena Duffuor Pulse Ghana

He further stated: “Does the Majority Leader of Ghana’s Parliament not know these facts, and is this what supports his claim that the NPP has a better borrowing record than the NDC?

“Or is the Majority Leader peddling falsehoods in order to play politics during what can be considered one of the most dire times in our nation’s history? Whatever the reasoning behind the majority leader’s statements, the facts show that they are false and should be corrected as publicly as they were stated.”

Dr. Duffour, therefore, urged the NPP to be humble and admit that “things have not gone to plan over the last 5–6 years of the NPP Government and the country is in a more perilous debt situation today than at any time between 2009–2016.

“Such an admission would hopefully then establish a basis to rally all Ghanaians towards finding lasting solutions,” he added.