General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), JHohn Boadu, has opined that former President John Dramani Mahama lacks an understanding of the Covid-19 economy.
The comment comes after the former president had slammed the government for what he described as mismanagement of the economy.
Mr. Mahama said the government was only blaming its poor performance on Covid-19.
Addressing a forum on Monday, September 6, 2021, Mr. Mahama noted that COVID-19 has become the convenient whipping boy and has been cited as the reason for the crisis we face now and the attendant economic hardships.
”Yes, COVID-19 affected the economy, and no one can dispute that. It is however not the main reason why we are in the current hole we find ourselves. COVID-19 only became a pretext for reckless election-related spending, which produced the largest-ever budget deficit in the recent economic history of Ghana last year,l” he asserted.
He added ”Our debt has ballooned to unsustainable levels- topping 80% of GDP- exposing us to very high risk of debt default. Almost all of our tax revenue is used to service our debt and the effect has been the introduction of several new taxes. This has led to rampant increments in the prices of goods and services. This is primarily responsible for the hardships Ghanaians are going through now.
This government must accept that it is their mismanagement of the economy, their thirst for consumption expenditure and the desire to spend beyond our means in order to win elections that have plunged us into the current crisis, not necessarily COVID-19.”
But reacting, Mr. Boadu said Mr. Mahama must provide his alternative financial and Covid-19 plan instead of lamenting.
To him, Mr. Mahama has no plan because he has failed to realize that Covid-19 has a fundamental impact on the economy.
He asked him to provide his alternative in securing vaccines and reopening schools.
He said the only alternative Mr. Mahama has, is to run to the IMF, and if he wants a forum to discuss the economy, he needs to put forward his plan.
John Boadu stated that Mr. Mahama must provide tangible plans instead of just criticizing.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana