You plunged Ghana into debt; that’s why gov’t is borrowing to clear them – John Kumah replies Mahama

A Deputy Minister of Finance, John Kumah has in a justification to the borrowing by the ruling government said it is necessary to pay off debts left by former President John Dramani Mahama.

It comes after the ex-Ghana president accused government of mismanaging the economy and recklessly spending after borrowing to bring hardship to Ghanaians.

Data from the Bank of Ghana as of July 2021 indicated that the country’s public debt stock has increased to GH¢332.4 billion.

According to John Kumah, if John Mahama wants to speak on borrowing, then he should know that it is because of his debt that the government has been borrowing.

“…if he talks about increases in borrowing, yes we have seen that but much of this borrowing went to address the debts he [John Mahama] left behind, the take or pay contracts he signed in the energy sector and the billions that we have paid. We spent about 25 billion cedis trying to save the banks,” the Deputy Finance said in an interview on Starr FM.

Mr. John Kumah continued, “So if we have borrowed, we have borrowed because he plunged this country into a very difficult situation that we needed to redeem. And that we have done and have shown competence in the management of this country.”

Meanwhile, the Deputy Finance Minister has bemoaned how the opposition is making borrowing in the Covid-19 era a political matter.