The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress and former president of Ghana John Dramani Mahama has cautioned the ruling New Patriotic Party to desist from telling Ghanaians the tale of inheriting a bad economy from his previous NDC led administration.
The National Democratic Congress flagbearer’s remark came as a response to the narrative being perpetuated by the ruling NPP government that the party’s inability to create economic respite to Ghanaians is as a result of the economic mess the party inherited from the NDC administration in 2017.
Accordingly, Mr. Mahama stated that the actual cause of Ghana’s economic woes is mismanagement on the part of the government. He further stated that the NPP government has a ‘clueless’ Finance Minister and Economic Management Team whose incompetence led Ghana into an economic ditch.
The former president also accused the ruling New Patriotic Party of being good propagandists who keep blaming other factors for the economic hardship of the country. He also accused the incumbent Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, of attempting to run away from the economic situations while redirecting his focus to digitalization.
Subsequently, the NDC flagbearer claimed that his administration in 2016 ran the government budget without borrowing a penny from the Bank of Ghana (BoG), a first in the country’s history. He further accused the current government of borrowing with no caution from the Central Bank. “…zero borrowing from Central Bank. You in 2021, GH₵ 42 billion you made Central Bank print for you, the following year, 2022 GH₵ 35 billion…”, he stated. He continued to emphasize that the Bank of Ghana is suffering a deficit due to the government’s excessive borrowing.
Bank of Ghana Made a Profit of More than GH₵ 1 Billion in My Tenure – Mahama
Moreover, the NDC flagbearer claimed that as a result of the constant borrowing from the Bank of Ghana, the bank has made a loss of more than GH₵ 60 billion and this is in contrast to a profit of more than GH₵ 1 billion the Bank of Ghana made during his party’s tenure of office. He then stressed that NPP’s narrative of blaming their incompetency on his party must stop.
Also, the flagbearer of the NDC, Mr. Mahama stressed that the ruling New Patriotic Party did not inherit any debt from his government upon assuming office in 2017 after the NPP won the election at the 2016 general polls.
Mr. Mahama claimed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ruled that Ghana’s economy grew by 8% before the end of his tenure in early 2017 which dropped by the years during the Akufo-Addo led NPP government. “…from the high of 8% they inherited from me, the next year it went to 6% to 0 when Covid hit…” he said.
The former Head of State continued his remarks stating that he made the administration of the NPP easy as he had left behind enough deposit in the Sinking Fund and the Stabilization Fund.
These funds he claimed helped the incumbent government to clear Ghana’s debt with the Eurobond and alleviated government’s burden during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I set up the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund…today that’s what you are using to build your Agenda 111 hospitals”, he noted.
Conclusively, as the National Democratic Congress and its flagbearer continues their tour of the North, the flagbearer and others continue to share their sentiments on the current economic state of the country.
The party’s General Secretary, Fiffi Fiavi Kwettey, in his previous address to the people of the North also gave a scathing review of the economic performance of the incumbent government while tagging the Dr. Bawumia a coward and a liar.
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