The NDC Minority in Parliament has predicted Ghana may seek “bail out” from International Monetary Fund less than two years after exiting if government has not changing its managerial skills.
Addressing the parliamentary Corps to respond to the Mid-Year Budget Review presented to parliament by The Finance minister, the Ranking Member, Finance Committee of Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson, stated that “given the fiscal challenges confronting the country and the high level of public debt, it would not come as a surprise if Ghana seeks a “bail out” from the IMF less than two years after exiting a similar programme that the current administration proudly touted as an achievement”.
According to him, the Mid-year budget clearly showed that the public finances are in dire straits and the resort to additional tax measures is an indication of the troubling times that we are in.
The populist policies adopted by President Akufo-Addo have come full cycle and are throwing all the gains made from the fiscal consolidation prior to the coming into office of the NPP government, out of gear, he alleged.
Ato Forson said “it has become obvious that the NPP has no intention of keeping their promises to Ghanaians when it comes to borrowing and the public debt, the imposition taxes, fuel price adjustments and the resolution of the general hardships facing the people. The mid-year budget presented by the Finance Minister only offers gloom and portend very difficult times for all Ghanaians. There is therefore the need for the Akufo-Addo government to change course or they will plunge the economy into much bigger challenges”.
The Minister of Finance told Parliament that, the gross public debt stock in nominal terms stood at GH¢204 billion (US$38.7 billion) as at end-June 2019, representing 59.2 percent of GDP.
According to the Minister, “the increase was mainly as a result of frontloading the financing requirements for 2019 in the first quarter but debt accumulation in the subsequent quarters is expected to ease downwards and stabilize. The share of the external debt stock increased from 50.2 percent at end-December 2018 to 52.8 percent at the end of June 2019, mainly driven by the issuance of Eurobonds of US$3.0 billion in March”.
Story filed by Edzorna Mensah
