Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson says Ghana will require a debt relief of about GH¢200 billion to make its current debt level sustainable.
Ghana has to show proof that its debt levels are sustainable before the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can approve an economic support programme for the country.
That is according to the Director of IMF’s African Department, Abebe Aemro Selassie.
Mr. Selassie told the media in Washington on October 14, that the country also needed a credible economic reform plan before an agreement for a fund-assisted programme could be reached.
Commenting on the wayforward in the IMF negotiations vis-à-vis the country’s debt sustainability Assessment, the minority spokesperson on finance said during a lecture on the economy on Thursday that the managers of the economy must strive to halve the current debt stock to about 55% for it to get consideration for a staff-level agreement with the Washington-based lender.
Meanwhile, he believes the reckless fiscal behaviour, and creative accounting have been the cause of Ghana’s economic crisis.
“Government decided to hide critical debt numbers and national statistics from Parliament and the world to create the impression they are doing well. And that is why this [the economic crisis] is coming to all of us.”
He revealed that the government came to Parliament with GH¢11.6 billion to finance a deficit of 3.9 percent of GDP, but “indeed that was false.”
“They actually borrowed GH¢21.4 billion to finance a fiscal deficit of 7.1 percent of GDP. So they hid from Parliament an amount of GHS 10 billion and the Ghanaian people didn’t know they borrowed in excess of what they had reported,” Dr. Forson said.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5 Fm