GHANA BORROWS $500M MONTHLY

The Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament has warned that Ghana could potentially be on its way back to the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPCI) if the current average borrowing of GH¢1.1BN ($500) a month by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration from both domestic and foreign sources is not halted. According to them, the trend is certainly 'unsustainable and unreasonable', especially when about 63% of the current debt stock comes from domestic sources. They noted that Ghana's public debt rose from GH¢9.5 billion in January 2009 to a staggering GH¢43.9 billion at the end of August 27, 2013, adding that between January and August this year (2013), the government borrowed GH¢8.8 billion. Addressing a news conference in Accra yesterday, the Minority Spokesperson on Finance in Parliament, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei said "it also needs to be pointed out that this 49.5% debt ratio means the country is on the verge of crossing the 50% threshold." Dr. Akoto Osei warned that should Ghana cross the 50% threshold of borrowing, its credit rating would be downgraded and the B+ rating bequeathed on the current administration by the Kufuor

regime, would be lost. This could also result in Ghana borrowing at very high interest rates. Efforts made by the editorial team to get the Finance Minister, Mr. Seth Terkper, to comment on the allegation proved futile. The Minister of State in charge of Financial and Allied Institutions at the presidency, Mr. Fifi Kwetey has, however, argued persistently that all the loans the government had contracted has been used for infrastructural projects and that the money has not been misused as the opposition party was trying to tell the international community. Statutory accounts in arrears The Minority, however, thinks it is "unprecedented", the inability of continued