Former Deputy Minister of Energy John Jinapor is accusing the Akufo-Addo-led government of using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to drain the country’s reserves.
He has, however, called on government to prioritise its expenditures in order to protect the public purse.
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This comes in the wake of the recent announcement by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori that the Central Bank had decided to grant government a GHS10 billion.
Mr Ofori-Atta on Friday, 29 May 2020 in a statement presented to Parliament confirmed the BoG’s decision to lend GHS10 billion to government with a 2 year moratorium for 10 years.
Governor of the Central Bank had earlier confirmed before the appearance of Mr Ofori-Atta in parliament that the first tranch totalling GHS5.5 billion at the rate of 14.5 percent had been made to government.
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Nevertheless, the former Deputy Minister has labelled the action by the Central bank as “illegal and a clear violation” of the Bank of Ghana (BOG) Act.
In a write up by the former Deputy Minister, Mr Jinapor noted that: “the Akuffo-Addo led Government has certainly run out of ideas and hiding behind the COVID-19 pandemic to deplete our reserves including the Petroleum Funds.”
He further called on Parliament to “ensure that the Executive Arm of Government does not engage in a reckless management of our financials as we approach the 2020 elections.”
Mr Jinapor says, “Rather than engaging in such wasteful and frivolous expenditures, the Akufo Addo/Bawumia Economic Management Team must prioritise expenditure in order to protect the national purse.
Current statistics disclose that the country’s debt as a percentage of GDP is in excess of 60% with the IMF projecting end of year 2020 Debt to GDP at about 67%.
Source: www.Ghgossip.com
