A banking consultant, Dr. Richmond Atuahene has warned that the country’s exports on international shipping lanes could be seized and sold to lenders over failure to settle the debts when they are due within the next two years.
Dr. Atuahene comments was a rebuttal to Finance Minister, Dr. Amin Adam’s assertion that the economy was rebounding after a difficult phase.
“Ghana’s economy has come back to life following the difficulties we faced in the last three years.
“Macroeconomic stability is fast returning to our country. We all can see the indicators improving by the day” Amin Adam had said in Saboba in the Northern Region a few days ago.
Dr. Atuahene who questioned the basis for such a glossy picture painted about the economy cautioned that things could get much worse if the country was unable to settle debts owed to international creditors.
“Whether you capture it or not, you have a duty to service it,” he said of the foreign loans. “That is what we should be thinking of because they are not grants, they are something you have to pay.”
“Something happened in Argentina. They were shipping some goods to Europe. Do you know that somebody in New York was able to take the commodity and sell to pay for his debt because he saw that the way the debt had been rescheduled, there was no way he’s going to be paid.
“They will use crude tactics and the World Bank can’t do anything about it especially when you’re shipping your cocoa. It will be intercepted on the high seas and somebody will go and sell it because you owe him,” Dr. Atuahene said.
He added that the foreign creditors were not charity who were going to forgive the debts owed them.
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