Majority Leader of Parliament, Alban Bagbin on Wednesday \u00a0defended the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration in Parliament after a wave of intense opposition and public criticism of what many describe as the government’s huge appetite for loans.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”UowAl3xVuSe7wf4aCHsNuZHUiy8Juine”]His defense follows accusations by the Minority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu that\u00a0government has sunk the country into huge debt<\/span> <\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>despite securing various loans to the tune of $27 billion<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n The Minority leader further \u00a0challenged government to disclose how the loans were used adding that governments total expenditure \u00a0stands at “$3.5 billion out of the $27 billion borrowed. So where is the rest of the money? How do you account for the $23.5 billion, Mr. Minister?\u201d<\/p>\n But Alban Bagbin during final deliberations on the 2015 budget in Parliament explained that some of the loans that were secured by the NDC administration were used to complete some uncompleted projects that was begun by the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP).<\/p>\n \u201cThese were projects that were started and initiated in 2008\u2026.This government was compelled to borrow money to pay for those projects,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n He indicated that \u201cthis [NDC] government \u00a0could have also decided to sell assets of the country to do this but we said no it is better to invest than to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGhanaians are definitely concerned about budget deficit and government debt. Definitely, government shares those concerns and government is committed to making sure we have reasonable budget and a balanced budget,” he said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is expected to initiate programmes to save Ghana from its current economic woes has endorsed the 2015 budget<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n