{"id":80645,"date":"2015-01-09T05:30:32","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T05:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=80645"},"modified":"2015-01-09T05:16:25","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T05:16:25","slug":"ghana-wont-go-back-hipc-majority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=80645","title":{"rendered":"Ghana won’t go back to HIPC – Majority"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Majority in Parliament has rejected claims by the Minority that the country is on the verge of returning to the league of Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), after raising concerns about the country’s continuous borrowing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they [New Patriotic Party] are saying that we are going to HIPC because we are around 60 to 70 percent of our to debt GDP, why has America not declared Highly Indebted Rich Country? We will not go HIPC,\u201d said the Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, James Klutse Avedzi.<\/p>\n

The Minority in Parliament on Thursday described the\u00a02015 budget statement which was presented to Parliament in November 2014 as a \u201chopeless budget\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/span> which will not guarantee Ghana\u2019s economic transformation.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”9yUpc9sTtINGBm0N7ImaeoDZrkfCiy9k”]The Minority leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu addressing the media added that \u201cthe stock of public debt has risen dramatically to GH\u00a270 billion representing 60.8% of GDP as at September 2014 adding that this is an increase in the debt stock by GH\u00a260.5 billion\u2026This also represents an increase in the debt stock by 636% over a six year period, an average increase in the debt stock by 106.14% every year under the NDC regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thus expressed worry at the increasing rate of government borrowing, insisting that\u00a0there is a high possibility that the nation will be listed again as HIPC country.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the Minority\u2019s position on the budget on Eyewitness News<\/strong>, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ketu North said all the loans which have been acquired by government are currently being judiciously used for various infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n

\"Minority<\/a>
Minority leader Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu (Left) and Deputy Minority Leader Dominic Nitiwul (Right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAll the loans that have been taken are being targeted for various projects for which evidence are there. If they have eyes, they can see it, if they don\u2019t have eyes, then they talk the way they are talking,\u201d he taunted.<\/p>\n

Mr. Avedzi recalled that during the tenure of the NPP government, the country was receiving HIPC relief of over $4billion as well as debt relief from international bodies.<\/p>\n

According to him, due to these financial supports, the NPP\u2019s debt stock was low therefore its declaration of doom on the country\u2019s debt stock is hypocritical.<\/p>\n

He challenged the Minority to \u201ctell Ghanaians how they used those monies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Avedzi accused the NPP of double standards because they were present when the budget was being approved.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a budget that was presented to Parliament for which they as NPP voted to approve the budget. If they knew that the budget is a hopeless budget and it cannot turn around the economy, why then did they go and approve it and voted for it on the floor of Parliament?” He asked.<\/p>\n

He wondered whether \u201c…at the time the budget was approved, they [Minority] didn\u2019t know that it was a hopeless budget? That is the double standard nature of the NPP.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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