Communications officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has defended statement by the party’s flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama which suggested Ghana has gone back to Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC).
According to him, during Mahama’s Professionals Dialogue series held in Accra on Monday, he never stated that Ghana has been declared, however, he only noted that the country is now crippling with debt.
Mahama is quoted to have said, “the IMF in its Sub-Saharan African Regional Economic Outlook forecast the current rate of borrowing and debt at a frightening 76.7% debt to GDP ratio. Unfortunately, Ghana is back to HIPC status under Nana Akufo-Addo and Ken Ofori-Atta administration.”
However, the IMF has debunked the allegations that Ghana has been declared HIPC.
In defense of Mahama’s comment Sammy Gyamfi noted, “He said we are back to HIPC, and that is different from saying we have been declared as a HIPC by the IMF. What President Mahama was saying is factual, and that basically is that Ghana is back to the same debt unsustainable position that we were [in] at the time we were declared as a HIPC country by the IMF and World Bank, and we joined that Ghana’s debt sustainability ratio now is not anything to celebrate.”
Source: GhanaFeed.com
