THE Deputy Minister of Finance, also a Member of Parliament for Ejisu in the Ashanti Region, John Kumah has urged Ghanaians to ignore former President John Mahama’s propaganda on the current situation in the country.
According to him, there is no new ideas from Former President John Mahama on the economy, saying, “our economy is in safe hands under President Akufo Addo’s government”.
The former President John Mahama who has recently launched attacks on Saturday raises another concern about the economy under the current Akufo- Addo-led government.
In a post on his official Facebook page, the former President said ” Our debt has ballooned to unsustainable levels- topping 80% of GDP- exposing us to very high risk of debt default”.
According to Mr. Mahama, “Almost all of our tax revenue is used to service our debt and the effect has been the introduction of several new taxes” adding that ” This has led to rampant increments in the prices of goods and services. This is primarily responsible for the hardships Ghanaians are going through now”.
However, the Deputy Minister of Finance reacting to Fomer President John Mahama’s claims explained that “It’s difficult to appreciate the former President on the issue of debt and debt management. In the first place, Ghana is not at high risk of debt default and Ghana does not spend all its tax revenue on interest cost”.
Mr. John Kumah said that “Government appreciates the concern on interest burden. To this effect, several measures have been instituted to address the situation. We currently have an active liability management program where Government buys back the most expensive instruments including those contracted by the NDC. In 2021 alone, an amount of GHS4.84 billion of 5 and 3yr bonds have been bought back”.
