Incumbent Ghanaian President, Nana Addo Dankwaah Akufo-Addo has declared that Ghana will not stop borrowing because even America borrows.
The president before being sworn in as president in 2017, spoke emphatically of cutting down Ghana’s borrowing rate and also debt when been elected president.
This was his backbone message on every campaign path he crossed leading to his ‘Ghana beyond aid’ agenda after he became president.
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However, it seems Ghanaians would not see the Akufo-Addo government overcoming the public debt anytime soon because of the president’s recent words.
According to Citinewsroom report sighted by Ghpage.com, the president has announced that his government will keep borrowing money to put up projects he described as “assets” to pay back those loans.
The president speaking at an entrepreneurship forum in Nigeria on Thursday, October 25, 2018, organized by the Tony Elumelo Foundation reportedly added that every country borrows money for projects and Ghana would not be an exemption.
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“We will borrow money; everybody borrows money. The United States of America is one of the biggest debtors in the world. So borrowing money is not necessarily a betrayal of the concept of independence.
“The key for us in borrowing money is that we borrow money to create assets that will allow us to pay the money back. That is the key…If we borrow the money and use it properly it is an asset for us in expanding our economy and infrastructure,” Akufo-Addo was quoted as saying.
His Excellency’s remark was a reply to a question from one of the participants who asked him on why he goes for loans from China despite always blowing horn on the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ mantra.
“Borrowing money is not aid. What President Xi Jinping offered is a $60 billion fund which African countries can access, not as aid but as loans. If you can produce a project that the Chinese think is worth supporting, you can have access to that money, but you have to pay it back,” President Akufo-Addo retorted to the question.
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It can be recalled that President Nana Akufo-Addo and his Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, while in opposition, criticized the former Mahama government for what they called “excessive borrowing”.
But it seems the Akufo-Addo government is also eating from the same bowl as the former president.
According to a report by the Bank of Ghana, Ghana’s total debt has hit GHS159.4bn.
