{"id":605617,"date":"2019-04-06T13:39:13","date_gmt":"2019-04-06T13:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"

Prof. Bokpin says the NPP has better figures in managing the economy than the NDC<\/p>

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Prof. Bokpin says the NPP has better figures in managing the economy than the NDC<\/p>\n

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Once a country runs a budget deficit, it is impossible to avoid borrowing, whether the monies come from abroad or from the local market. <\/span><\/p>\n

Finance lecturer at the University of Ghana, Godfred Bokpin, who espoused this, used it to defend government\u2019s borrowing.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Prof. Bokpin said the 2017 budget, \u201cwhich had received Parliamentary approval,\u201d had exceeded the country\u2019s revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026that budget deficit is an indication of the borrowing requirement of the government,\u201d he said; adding that the 2018 and 2019 budgets also have a deficit which must be financed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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According to him, the problem is not with the current administration alone. <\/span><\/p>\n

He told Samson Lardy Anyenini on Joy FM\/MultiTV\u2019s Newsfile Saturday, that \u201cour revenue envelope has remained dwarf\u00a0since independence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With his explanation, the lecturer concluded that \u201cthere is no government that can manage this economy without borrowing.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is impossible,\u201d he stressed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The debt of Ghana in 2016, was GH\u00a2122 billion which has increased under President Akufo-Addo to GH\u00a2173 billion in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bokpin was reacting to the\u00a0increasing nominal debt which was part of fallouts from the two economic forums held by the government and the erstwhile administration this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the lecturer said it is only the nominal figure which has increased under the Akufo-Addo administration. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe rate of debt is going down,\u201d he said, crediting part of it to the IMF which came-in in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

Giving more credit to the Akufo-Addo administration, Prof. Bokpin said if the cost of the banking sector clean-up, GH\u00a212 billion, is taken out, \u201cthe rate of debt accumulation is going down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He also dismissed critics of the clean-up. According to him, the cost of not undertaking the clean-up would have been detrimental to the\u00a0entire financial sector.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bokpin reiterated earlier, comments he made that comparing figures of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and that of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), the later has been better managers of the economy.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n