By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed that Ghana’s high debt is a result of spending on the Corona Virus pandemic (COVID 19), Banking Sector clean-up, and payment of excess power in the energy sector.
”In addition to the COVID-19 expenditure, the banking sector clean-up and payment of excess power in the energy sector as a result of the contracts signed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, accounted for the rising public debt”, he noted.
Bawumia Speaks
On the issue of the COVID 19 spending, the Vice President explained that the government of Nana Akufo-Addo needed to save the lives of the people hence the decision to prioritise spending in the health sector in order to restore the health of the people.
Dr. Bawumia made these assertions at a forum held by the students’ wing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) known as TESCON, he claimed that spending in all these areas cost the government ¢50.1billion.
But for the banking sector and the Excess Energy payment, the Vice President was of the opinion the debt would be hovering around 68%, instead of 81%.
“Between 2019 and 2021 Ghana’s debt to GDP increased by 17.6% points of GDP. It should be noted that without the 15.1 billion of the exceptional items – the financial sector and then the energy and COVID Ghana’s debt to GDP would have been about 68 % instead of the current 80 %,” he said.
Dr. Bawumia further attributed the current hardships in the Ghanaian economy to the ongoing geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine, but was quick to indicate that some measures have been introduced by the government to ameliorate the hardship the people are going through.
