{"id":47623,"date":"2014-09-15T09:35:54","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T09:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=47623"},"modified":"2014-09-15T10:47:29","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T10:47:29","slug":"dont-worry-about-governments-continuous-borrowing-terkper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/dont-worry-about-governments-continuous-borrowing-terkper\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t worry about government’s continuous borrowing – Terkper"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper has downplayed worries over government\u2019s continuous borrowing which economists<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span> and analysts say the country will struggle to repay.<\/p>\n According to figures from the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the country’s debt as at August 2014 stood at almost GHC 44 billion.<\/p>\n This is about a half of the country’s value of GHC 85 billion.<\/p>\n Ghana issued a $1 billion Eurobond on Thursday while the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) in its latest syndicated loan accepted $1.7 billion from partner banks to purchase cocoa beans for the 2014\/2015 cocoa season.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”7NK9644JyiGehBOm6fURB0DfphcMyOBY”]The World Bank\u2019s Africa Pulse Report ranked Ghana as the fourth country in Africa with the highest public debt in relation the total value of the economy.<\/p>\n Responding to questions on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong> about the rising debt stock and the implications for the country in the future, Seth Terkper said the economy has faced a lot of challenges hence, the need for the borrowing.<\/p>\n “Yes, debt is always a concern, it\u2019s a concern for households, it\u2019s a concern for businesses and it must be a concern for government…We’re moving to project basis for our loans,” he said.<\/p>\n Mr. Terkper added that, “It is when you put the repayment of debts on the taxpayer that you struggle to repay.”<\/p>\n Former governor of the BoG, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia has challenged the government\u2019s borrowing strategy saying, \u201cyou cannot borrow yourself out of bankruptcy.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n