Naagyei 90.3 Fm Agyapa
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says Ghana has not gotten to the level where it’s crushed under a mountain of debt for it to go into Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) situation again.
“Those who are saying Ghana is in HIPC situation were putting forth lame argument and had no understanding of HIPC,” he hit back at critics insisting this is just mere politics.
In an interview with Stylish Radio at Bibiani in the Western North region Monday, Dr. Bawumia said “Ghana is still very strong; the fundamentals are strong and the economy is even going to expand more”
It follows claims by NDC flagbearer John Mahama and other opposition folks that management of the economy has landed the country in a HIPC situation.
National Communications Officer of the NDC said current data suggests that the country is in a worse situation.
“it is important at this stage to make the point that the attempt by the failed Akufo-Addo government to blame our ever-worsening debt position on COVID-19 is untenable and laughable, to say the least.
“This is because our public debt was already increasing at an alarming rate and had reached unsustainable levels with a debt to GDP ratio of 63% even before we were hit by the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.”
He went on “so even before March 2020 when COVID-19 struck, debt to GDP was hovering around 63%. We had already crossed the acceptable threshold and so you can’t blame this catastrophic debt position we are talking about on covid-19. That argument they make is neither here nor there and Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and government’s spokesperson should be candid to the people of Ghana”.
But Bawumia contends HIPC as a programme has been completed long ago and under no circumstance will the country get back onto that path.
He added: “We’re able to pay all our debts.”
