Dr. Richmond Atuahene, a banking consultant, has disputed the Finance Minister’s claim that the outgoing government is handing over a resilient economy to the incoming National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
His comment comes after the Finance minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, addressing journalists, said that the Akufo-Addo was set to hand over “a strong economy” that had “recovered strongly and faster than many anticipated”.
Speaking on Morning Starr, Dr. Atuahene argued that Ghana’s economy is actually on the brink of collapse, citing a debt hangover of over $56 billion, persistent inflation, and a 42% currency depreciation this year.
He also pointed to the treasury bill rate, which has risen to 29% after the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), indicating a depletion of private sector resources.
Dr. Atuahene further referenced an IMF report, which revealed an outstanding energy debt of $2.5 billion and an additional $37 billion owed to road contractors and other service providers.
Dr. Atuahene questioned how anyone could describe Ghana’s economy as strong given these indicators, suggesting that the Finance Minister’s assertion is contrary to reality.
Meanwhile, the President-elect, John Dramani Mahama, has also disputed the Finance Minister’s assertion.
“We are the only country in sub-Saharan Africa that has a debt hangout of over 56 billion because whenever we calculate the debt risk fractions, we never include the multilateral agencies like the World Bank, IMF, and African Development Bank. If you aggregate it, Ghana has a debt hangout of over 56 billion in 2024 as against 79 billion when they took over.
“That’s not the end of the road; inflations have persisted…Currency depreciation this year is 42%, as if nothing has happened, treasury bail rate which before the DDEP was 22, has risen up to 29% indicating that the private sector has completely depleted out.”
“The IMF December report, which President-elect said yesterday, we are leaving energy debt of 2.5 billion dollars, that’s not the end of the road.
“Road contractors and other service providers, according to the IMF document, have an outstanding debt of 37 billion, which is about 7.1% of the GDP. So, if anybody can tell me from these variables and indicators I’ve said, and these are all coming from documents either from the IMF or World Bank, how can you describe a bankrupt economy as strong? There’s no indication anywhere.”
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