Former Chief Executive of MASLOC, Stephen Amoah, has expressed total shock at comparisons of the country’s debt portfolio under the various regimes of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) from 1992.
According to him, in terms of performances considering a comparative analysis of all the times these two political parties have been government, the NDC has performed worst in the history of Ghana’s journey to economic recovery.
“Between 2000 and 2004, our debt portfolio increased by 52.53% and from 2004 to 2008 it increased 23.66%. However, from 2008 to 2012 the debt portfolio ballooned by 286.96% and between 2012 and 2015 it increased by 234.43%,” he stated.
Mr. Stephen Amoah was contributing to debate for the approval of the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review of the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government for the financial 2021 Financial Year moved on Thursday 29th July 2021 by the Minister for Finance Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta.
He argued that in the eight years of the first NPP government, the administration increased the country’s debt portfolio by just 46.98 while in the immediate past eight years of the NDC, the government increased it by over 1140%.
According to him, the most astonishing factor of the comparison is the fact that the NPP government under President Akufo-Addo is confronted with the COVID-19 economic meltdown which has affected every country worldwide.
Mr. Amoah who is the Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso Constituency noted that trade activities, by extension industrial activities in terms of productivity are facing serious issues, which incidentally are also the key performance parameters of any GDP growth across the world.
He argued that even with this dire economic situation, the NPP has performed far better than the NDC.
He stated that a release by the NDC in 2020 which purported the NPP government as having increased Ghana’s debt portfolio by GH¢291,614 million for a percentage of 142.22% is even better than the two regimes of the opposition.
“So I’m surprised and shocked at the mathematics that went into the calculations. In a period in which every economic activity has slowed down due to the coronavirus pandemic leading to low revenue generation alongside expenditure, any government will be restricted to borrowing.”
“The NDC has no other alternative policy and they are saying that we should go and beg. Mr. Speaker, I have never seen any economic policy in the world which is called begging policy except the NDC. I have never seen this before,” he said.
Mr. Amoah urged the NDC to take its time and understudy the NPP government because they do not understand the mechanics of harmonizing key performance indicators of the budget.
He argued that in 2012 the budget deficit of the then NDC government was 12.1% even without the ravages of the covid-19 pandemic, which is still higher than the current deficit under the Akufo-Addo regime.
He charged the NDC to learn from the NPP government so that in the unlikely event that it returns to power it will understand the kind of economic policies to pursue and what to do for the benefit of the Ghanaian people.
Source: MyPublisher24.com
