Former Finance Minister and Member of Parliament for Ajumako Hon. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson has vowed not to allow members of the New Patriotic Party administration to talk down a resilient economy they have inherited from the National Democratic Congress.
Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo has said Ghana’s economic figures the NPP inherited from the NDC are not encouraging; describing it as one that is “extremely, heavily indebted but not poor.”
According to him, Ghana’s budget deficit is hovering at a worrying rate of 8% higher than the 5% expected under the IMF agreement. Ghana is currently under a three year programme with the IMF as part of efforts to bring credibility and stability to Ghana’s economy.
As part of the program the country was expected to maintain a budget deficit of 5%, something Osafo Maafo said the previous government could not do.
What is worse, the Senior Minister who was Finance Minister in the erstwhile Kufuor administration said the debt to GDP is 72% a figure which can only be suffocating.
He pointed out that though Ghana’s economy is very strong fundamentally, those who managed it under the NDC were the problem.
To him, “the economy is bleeding seriously”.
But Hon. Ato Forson in an interview on Radio Gold which was monitored by Peacefmonline.com stated that the NPP has started painting a gloomy picture to create room for their probable excuses in the event that they are unable to fulfill the numerous promises they made to Ghanaians during the 2016 electioneering campaign.
He advised Mr. Osafo Maafo and his fellow party mates not to downplay the role ex-President Mahama’s administration played to build the economy by rating it on nominal GDP.
The Member of Parliament for the Ajumako Enyan Essiam Consistency advised the Senior Minister to stay away from “speculations” and keep in mind that there is no need for him to comment like “he is still in opposition”.
“This is a political party that has been in opposition for 8 years. During their campaign, they talked down on the Ghana’s economy.
They must leave the past behind them. They are no longer in opposition so they should check the numbers before they speculate. They should wait and not use one indices to judge the Ghanaian economy,” he advised.
“President Mahama has left behind a strong economy for them to take over,” he added.
“…it is early to know the nominal GDP- the Statistical Service is yet to come out with it… It is too early to put a figure on it”, he noted.
He continued that “the nominal GDP is yet to come out…the final numbers are not out, the ones we have now are provisional….to conclude that our economy isn’t strong is misleading”.
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