Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has said that claims by former President John Mahama that the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has little to show for all the loans it has contracted are false, stressing that the over 18,000 projects on government’s delivery tracker are examples of what the money has been used for.
Former President John Mahama has accused the Akufo-Addo administration of borrowing into unprecedented proportions with very little to show. He has said that even though the NPP administration has borrowed some GHC157 billion, it does not have much to show for this huge amount borrowed in less than four years.
But speaking on Eagle FM in the Central Region on Sunday November 1, 2020, Dr Bawumia debunked the claims: “We have done a lot of projects, when you check from the delivery tracker. The road infrastructure; talk about the Tema interchange, Tamale interchange, PTC interchange, Obetsebi interchange,” he noted.
Dr Bawumia further dismissed assertions by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its flagbearer that the NPP government has ballooned the country’s debt, explaining that it will be misleading to conclude that the debt has increased astronomically by just looking at the amount.
He noted that considering the rate of growth is the right way to make a comparison of the debt. He said that while the rate of growth of debt by previous governments was in excess of 200%, that of the NPP under President Akufo-Addo is 70%, the lowest.
The debate on Ghana’s increasing debt between the NPP and NDC has become a major issue as the country heads to the General Elections in December.
But Economist and Political Risk Analyst Dr Theo Acheampong has said that the two dominant parties have been responsible for the increase in the country’s debt since 2001.
