Ghana’s debt to GDP is not 48%… Adongo
Delivering a counter economic lecture last week, the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, said the figure given by the vice president was inaccurate because they were outdated, adding that, Dr Bawumia used December 2018 figures of the country’s foreign debt and added same to March 2019 domestic debt.
According to Isaac Adongo, if you use the old series, Ghana’s debt to GDP would have been 72 per cent, something he said was outrageous considering the fact that the government was yet to experience its first election.
“…Are you seeing these numbers or you’re seeing something else? That is the reason they are cooking the numbers and are not reporting the full extent of debt,” Adongo said.
According to him, Ghana’s economy is now being held by just about three foreign investors, explaining “What it means is that only a few people are now holding our external debt and Ghana’s destiny is tied to Franklin Templeton and two or three other investors”.
This situation, he argued, does not only compromise the independence of Ghana’s policy decision making but also increases our vulnerability risks.
In his view, Ghana’s monetary policy decisions cannot be taken in isolation of the interest of these investors and foreign constituents as is being held by the governor of the Bank of Ghana.
“If they [the investors] decide that their interest is now better served in south East Asia and they come to take their money the cedi will disappear. This is the state of our Ghanaian economy and this is not the one to be celebrating,” he said.