The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) James Klutse Avedzi Monday clashed with the Deputy Finance Minister Abena Asare over Ghana’s public debt as at December 2016.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in his 2017 budget presentation put the figure of the country’s public debt at GH¢122 billion.
However, the Controller and Accountant General (CAG) in the 2016 Auditor General’s report for the Consolidated Fund puts the figure at GH¢120 billion
Speaking at the committee’s sitting, Mr Avedzi latched onto the discrepancy, accusing the Finance Minister of deceiving Parliament—an allegation the Deputy Minister rejected lucidly.
Below are excerpts of the sitting
Avedizi: As a Deputy Minister, Your Minister came to say that total public debt is GH¢122billion as at December 2016. The report of the Auditor General…in fact, the accounts of the Controller and Accountant General (CAG) confirmed GH¢120billion, and the Auditor General also verified and confirmed that figure. My question to you is that why did your Minister say GH¢122billion while the actual debt is GH¢120billion?
Deputy Finance Minister: You know that a lot of these debts are foreign-based, foreign denominated and so these exchange rates differ. My Minister reported this in March 2017 based on the converted or the current exchange rate at that time.
Avedzi: I agreed that he reported in March 2017. But the reference point wasn’t in March 2017. The reference point was December 2016. And there was an exchange rate as at December 2016. Why?
Deputy Minister: Honorable Chairman, as far as I know, the difference has to do with the exchange rate.
Avedzi: You are not answering my question, my dear sister, I’m saying that the reference point is December 2016, not March 2017. Or did your Minister use the exchange rate as at March 2017 to represent the figure as at December 2016? Is that what he did?
Deputy Minister: Honourable Chairman, anytime you are quoting your current liabilities you need to quote at the current rates. Certainly, Ghana took some loans way back in 1999. We cannot use the exchange rate of 1999 when we are talking about that loan or when we have to make some repayment towards that load. Certainly, you would use the current exchange rate. And as you also confirm most of these debts were external loans and so certainly if you used the existing exchange rate the figures might go up or down. But that notwithstanding it remains that our debt to GDP ratio was high.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
