NDC Public Economic Lecture Series: Full Speech by Isaac Adongo

General News on Friday, April 5th, 2019

Source: Ghanacrusader.com

2019-04-05

The National Democratic Congress has released economic figures to "expose" what they described as "figures" on Ghana's debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) set by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia at 48 percent.

In a public hearing on Ghana's economy, Dr. Bawumia said Wednesday that Ghana's debt-to-GDP ratio is 48 percent and the economy has performed better in the last two years compared to the previous year. John Mahama administration.

Bolongatanga Central Member of Parliament Isaac Adongo said on Thursday that the figure given by the vice president was inaccurate because it is out of date.

He observed that Mr. Bawumia had used the country's external debt figures for December 2018 and added them to the domestic debt of March 2019.

According to the financial consultant, if you used the old series, Ghana's debt-to-GDP ratio would have been 72%, which, he said, was outrageous given the fact that the government had not yet done so. first elections.

"… Do you see those numbers or do you see anything else? That's the reason they cook the numbers and do not report the extent of the debt, "Adongo said.

The fate of Ghana among foreigners

In its badysis, the worst is the current situation of "excessive concentration of external debts".

According to him, about three foreign investors currently control the Ghanaian economy, saying: "This means that only a few people hold our external debt and that Ghana's destiny is tied to Franklin Templeton and two other investors."

This situation, he said, does not only undermine the independence of Ghana's decision-making process, but also increases our vulnerability risks.

In his view, Ghana's monetary policy decisions can not be made without taking into account the interest of these investors and their foreign voters, as advocated by the Governor of the Bank of Ghana.

"If they [the investors] decide that their interest is now better served in Southeast Asia and that they come to take their money, the cedi will disappear. It's the state of our Ghanaian economy and it's not the one to celebrate, "he told Dr. Bawumia.

"Because Bawumia was coming to give a lecture, they stopped our public debt in December 2018 and in December 2018. [2018].

"As for domestic debt, they reported until March 2019. They remembered that they had borrowed $ 3.7 billion, which they added to their reserve and showed that the reserve is high, so I added it as well.

"And when we added it appropriately, based on the new series, our debt to GPD is 58%, but Bawumia claimed that it was 48%," said Adongo, a member of the board. Parliament's Finance Committee.