Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson has declared that the Bank of Ghana need parliamentary authorisation to wipe off government debt.
He stated that the central bank cannot take a unilateral decision to write off the government’s debt without the approval of Parliament.
He also claims that the government should not compel the Bank of Ghana to write off national debt without first securing parliamentary consent.
He made the statements when presenting the Minority’s response to the 2023 mid-year budget review, which was submitted to the House on Monday, August 31, 2023.
“The entire government of Ghana’s debt restructuring programme must be submitted to parliament for scrutiny,” he added.
Meanwhile, he has also described as false the assertions by the Finance Minister that Ghana has turned the corner in managing the economic crisis.
“Mr Speaker, we have not turned the corner. We have not even seen a corner from where we are as a country. In fact, we are still in the woods. We are nowhere near the corner, let alone turn it”.
He called on the government to render an apology to Ghanaians “for destroying our livelihoods, our country and our motherland”.
The government has successfully collapsed all state-owned enterprises and institutions. The almighty Bank of Ghana is now bankrupt with negative equity of over GHC55 billion and counting that will require the taxpayer to recapitalise it”.
“Who would have thought that the once prestigious Ghana Cocoa Board will today be bankrupt to the extent that they cannot repay their debt to cocoa bondholders, cocoa road contractors, Licence Buying Companies and fertiliser suppliers”?
“ECG, yaamutu; GIHOC Distilleries, yaamutu; NEDCo, yaamutu; GRIDCo, yaamutu; Buffer Stock Company, yaamutu; Ghana Publishing Company, yaamutu; Ghana Railways, yaamutu; STC, yaamutu; Ghana Airport Company Limited, yaamutu. What a corner you have turned, Mr. Minister!, the Minority Leader declared.
“How could you claim to have turned a corner when GDP growth has been revised from 2.8% to 1.5%, current net international reserves is about 1 week of import cover and it is projected to be about 3 weeks (0.8 months) of import cover by the end of the year 2023 even with IMF cash”?
“How could you claim to have turned a corner when inflation is currently 42.5% and rising and projected to be 31.3% by the end of the year, when monetary policy is 30% and rising, and commercial bank lending rate is 36% and rising”?
“The performance of this economic management team, despite the hype, over the past seven years has been beyond abysmal”, adding “With this mess created by the NPP administration, Ghana will require over 5 years of collective sacrifice and dedication to turn things around”.
“Mr. Speaker, the government has rewritten Ghana’s economic history and a book on HOW NOT TO MANAGE AN ECONOMY must be dedicated to this Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government”, he said.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
