NPP Manifesto promises unrealistic - Amissah-Arthur

Christopher Arko, GNA
Cape Coast (C/R), Oct.26, GNA - Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has described as 'unrealistic' the NPP's Election 2016 Manifesto promise to reduce taxes on businesses.

He said the NPP's prescription would be inimical to the growth of the economy and development.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur was speaking at a lecture, organised by Students of Economics of the University of Cape Coast.

The lecture, which is on the theme: 'The Economy, Strengthening, Teaching and Research of Economics for Nation Building' is a novelty by the Department of Economics of the University.

It is to enable the students to have a practical understanding of the subject.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur stated that a careful analysis by the NDC of the NPP's proposed tax breaks for businesses would amount to ₵6.2 billion, in additions to ₵21 billion in new expenditures for infrastructure.

He said looking at the NPP's proposals and the way they intended to spend public finances on their unrealistic manifesto promises, it would come with dire consequences for the Ghanaian economy.

Ghanaians, he said, must, therefore, help stop the NPP in their tracks before they unleashed their impracticable promises on the country.

He said a look at the NPP Manifesto also showed there were no philosophical underpinnings in the policy, presented to Ghanaians as compared to that of the NDC.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur also stated that the NDC had managed to reduce the country's budget deficit, which stood at of 12 per cent in 2012 to about six percent currently, meaning there had been fiscal consolidation.

He said in the eight years of the Kufuor Regime, the country had 56 per cent growth in GDP, whereas in seven years of the NDC, the nation had 65 percent growth in GDP.

He said the current NDC Manifesto sought to provide an environment that would help grow small and medium enterprises, as well as roll out policies to create direct employment opportunities for the youth.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur said surprisingly, the NPP with their long history of political activism, the Danquah- Busia Tradition, were now borrowing ideas from a Social Democratic Party (NDC).

He said the NPP implicitly accepted everything that the NDC had done in terms of the economic management, with the exception that the Government had not been able to restore macro-economic stability.

He said though it was clear that the NPP had adopted the NDC's vision, the NPP was still denying these facts.

He said the NPP's one constituency, one million-dollar policy was not well thought out since its implementation would render the district assemblies redundant.

GNA