Minority members of Parliament have accused government of peddling falsehood on the true state of the Ghanaian economy in relation to the country’s debt to GDP ratio. The minority’s assertion follows the Finance Ministry’s release of figures to some media houses in a bid to quell reports that the struggling Ghanaian economy is nearing the status of a high indebted poor country, HIPC. Speaking at a news conference Thursday, the Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Anthony Akoto Osei, said government’s claims about the health of the economy are false, cautioning such half-truths will hurt investor confidence.
Below is part of the Minority’s statement.
Government must stop deceiving Ghanaians and international investors on Ghana’s debt Barely a day after internal reports of the Central Bank showed that the debt profile for June 2015 had shot beyond 71 percent of GDP; the Ministry of Finance released a sort of counter report showing a significant decline in the debt-to-GDP ratio to 62 percent for July 2015. This report has been made available to select media houses for propaganda purposes. A more appropriate way is to publish these numbers on the website of the Ministry of Finance. It is regrettable that it has become a tool to mislead the public and more importantly, international investors. This ‘debt-propaganda’ work is coming right on the heels of a Eurobond road show, which in all likelihood may begin next week, and raises a number of questions, including cajoling international investors by painting a good picture of the debt situation. Another reason why the figures are being released is the fear of HIPC and therefore with the debt numbers supposedly at 62 percent, government officials will be armed with the sort of tool and ammunition to fend-off the “fear-of-HIPC” attack which is coming from some quarters. Here are reasons why July 2015 debt number is a fluke and why this sort of debt ‘gymnastics’ is not a good thing and should be avoided in any realm of macroeconomic management.
