Gov’t Doctoring Debt Figures – Minority

The Minority in Parliament has accused the government of doctoring figures in order to reduce the country’s public debt stock.

According to the NDC MPs, the Akufo-Addo led administration added some GH¢28 billion to the debt stock in 2017.

The Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta last year stated that government through prudent management of the economy successfully reduced the country’s debt burden.

But speaking on the floor of Parliament Tuesday on the 2017 Public Debt Report, MP for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo questioned the basis upon which government claims to have reduced the public debt stock saying: “Our budget deficit has been suppressed and all the numbers that we are touting around are not true numbers.”

He continued: “Every time we are told in January and February that we have reduced debt to GDP from 59-to-60 per cent. I have never seen anywhere in economics and in finance that you will take a year end GDP figures to debt and you come to January and you have reduced it, it is never done.”

He explained that the right procedure should be that at the end of the financial year, the total debt is looked at from January to December. “And in fact, you are looking for your GDP actual, that you have actually accumulated and that gives you, your debt to GDP.

At the beginning of the year, you don’t know your GDP…unless projected,” he observed, adding “So that projected GDP becomes constant from January to December.”

Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com