The minority in Parliament has dismissed the claim by Information minister Kojo Oppong that the growing public debt is due to exchange rate volatilities and payment obligations of debts accumulated by erstwhile John Mahama administration.
According to the minority, the claim only exposes the failures of the Nana Akufo-Addo/Dr. Bawumia led administration.
In a rebuttal, the minority reminded government that it has a duty to keep exchange rates down hence blaming accumulating debts on the development is an admission of failure.
“The attempt to blame the rising debt on exchange rate depreciation represents “double-speak” and an admission of failure by President Akufo-Addo since it is his duty to ensure a stable exchange rate and his failure to do so cannot be used as justification for a ballooning public debt,” they indicated.
The minority also challenged the Information minister to provide details of loans he claims were contracted by the erstwhile John Mahama administration but are now being disbursed.
“We challenge him to produce a list of all such loans and show clearly, how much has been disbursed. The government cannot eat its cake and have it: take credit for the projects and disown the loans. It should be humble to give the credit to former President Mahama!!!” they stated.
They further indicated that the GHC80billion debt of which they speak was accumulated from new loans.
The minority also challenged the claim by the Information minister that the 80 billion also includes monies borrowed to pay debts left behind by the former government.
“This claim is most misleading and has been deliberately couched to throw dust into the eyes of unsuspecting members of the public. The reality is that monies borrowed to replace shorter-dated maturing debt do not have any impact on the public debt figure. The figure remains the same as there is no net increase,” they indicated.
