Mahama chastises govt for destroying economy

Former President John Mahama has chastised the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for mismanaging the economy, citing excessive borrowing as a major contributor to the country's financial woes.

Addressing a gathering of party supporters at the Matetse taxi station at Dodowa in the Shai Osudoku Constituency in the Greater Accra Region yesterday, the flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said the government had borrowed about $11.5 billion of the total Eurobond debt which had contributed to the present economic crisis and the hardship of individuals and businesses.

“NPP has managed to destroy the national economy, and one of the ways they did it was by over borrowing.

“We realised that the reason why they were able to do that is because there is no transparency in our debt management regime,” Mr Mahama said.

He, therefore, accused the government of taking advantage of that to plunge the country into more debt. 

Debt management policies

The former President pledged to establish an autonomous Debt Management Authority, separate from the Ministry of Finance, when given the mandate to rule the country again in the December 7 election.

Party supporters

The authority, he said, would have an independent head, and would publish quarterly reports on the country's debt-to-GDP ratio.

Mr Mahama also promised to amend the Public Financial Management Act to introduce a borrowing cap that would prevent future governments from accumulating excessive debts.

He suggested capping borrowing at 60 per cent of GDP, to ensure fiscal discipline and also protect future generations from excess indebtedness.

Community engagements

Mr Mahama is on day two of his campaign tour of the Greater Accra Region, where he is having community engagements and mini durbar events.

His first stop was at Asutuare in the Shai Osudoku Constituency, where he shared his vision with the people and urged them to vote for change.

The NDC flag bearer’s next stop was  Dodowa, where he was received by an enthusiastic crowd before moving the campaign trail to Oyibi in the Kpone Katamanso Constituency for a mini durbar at the community park.

Other areas he was slated to visit were Madina and the Dome Kwabenya constituencies.