Ofori-Atta has been cooking the books – Mahama alleges, dares him to sue

• Ghana’s true budget deficit is unknown

• That Ofori-Atta is cooking figures is an allegation by John Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama has stated that Ghana’s economy is in tatters and things continue to fall apart because of gross mismanagement on the part of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government.

Speaking on Accra-based Power FM / TV XYZ at the start of his Greater Accra Regional ‘Thank You Tour,’ he alleged that Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was not being truthful with Ghanaians about the true state of the economy.

“The Finance Minister, I repeat, has been cooking the books. I have said this several times, if he is so minded, he should sue me. He has been cooking the books.

“He doesn’t give the right picture of the economy. Liabilities like the Energy Sector debt and Banking Sector clean up, he doesn’t add to the deficit, he puts it as a footnote.

“So when he says our deficit is 6%, it is because he has hidden the huge liability items and he’s done that for a long time so he gets (favourable) Fitch and Moody’s rating so it looks like the economy is doing well,” he added.

According to him, the government was exposed when Vice president Bawumia once claimed that the economy could withstand six months in case of a big shock.

Mahama said just two weeks after COVID-19 struck, it took assistance from the World Bank and IMF for the economy to be salvaged. He said the six-month buffer was a bluff because, within 2 weeks, the economy was in the Intensive Care Unit.

He also jabbed the government for growing Ghana’s national debt from 120 billion dollars to 375 billion within a space of four and half years, he is even more worried that the debts are largely for consumption and that there was no major infrastructure to back the wanton borrowing.