Ex-Deputy Finance Minister has accused the Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor of deceit in his presentation of the supplementary budget to Parliament on Tuesday.
According to Dr. Akoto Osei, the Finance Minister painted a great picture of the country’s economy earlier in the year to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order for the Briton Wood Institution to grant a loan agreement to the government
of Ghana.
Joy News’ Parliamentary reporter, Sammy Darko, said the ex-Deputy Minister produced a letter purported to have been written by the Finance Minister to the IMF on the floor of Parliament, in which the minister allegedly touted the decline in interest rates and other stable macro economic indicators in order for the loan to be approved.
He said Dr. Osei was therefore surprised that the same Minister turned round to accuse his predecessor of mismanaging and running down the economy in his Supplementary Budget presentation.
Dr. Akoto Osei who is also a Ranking Member of Finance, made these observations on Thursday when Members of Parliament subjected the supplementary budget to a debate on the floor of the House.
He also chided the ‘strong language’ he said the Finance Minister used the budget presentation, and demanded an unqualified apology.
Dr. Duffour in his presentation said the economy had not only been run down, but the bad governance of the previous administration led into colossal judgement debts for the NDC government.
This, according to the ex-official, could not be true.
He said the NPP left a better economy in 2008 than it inherited in 2001. He said the NPP left an inflation rate of 18 per cent in 2008, when indeed it had inherited 41 per cent interest rate.
Interest rate, according to him was 50 per cent in 2001, but the NPP left a modest interest rate of 27 per cent in 2008.
These figures, he said, do not reflect a run-down economy as charged by the Finance Minister.
Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com