IMANI Ghana disputes $39 billion borrowed by Mahama claim

Policy think tank, IMANI Ghana, has challenged claims by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice-Presidential Candidate that President John Mahama has borrowed $39 billion within the space of three and half years.

In a statement released Friday, IMANI said upon a careful computation of the monies borrowed by the President using the exchange rate of the dollar in 2012 and the current rate, it should not exceed $26 billion, disputing Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s claim.

According to the think tank, the 66 percent debt stock alleged to have been added to Ghana's debt by President Mahama should rather be 31 percent.

The NPP Vice-Presidential Candidate criticized the President Mahama-led administration for recklessly has managing the nation’s resources.

At a public lecture held Thursday at the National Theatre, Dr Bawumia said President Mahama has run down Ghana’s economy through mismanagement and corruption.

He said out of the $39 billion borrowed by government, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde remarked that a huge part of the money was spent on consumption.

“If you compare the sum the total cost of infrastructure expenditure from loans from taxes, and from grants from 2009 to 2016 it is less than $7 billion meanwhile the government has borrowed $39 billion,” she said, quizzing, “So where is the rest of the money?”

"About 66 percent of Ghana’s debt since Independence has been accumulated under the Presidency of John Mahama under the last 3 and half years," he said.

However, IMANI Ghana says even though the arguments peddled by the Dr Bawumia are 60 percent truth, 40 percent are full of politics.

“To obtain a composite figure of debt since independence, defaults and forgiveness would have to be factored into the mix, which will further reduce the total percentage,” the think tank said.

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