President-elect John Dramani Mahama has rejected claims that his administration left behind a broken economy when it exited office in 2016.
Mahama, who led the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government from 2012 to January 6, 2017, described the accusations as false and a deliberate attempt by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to distort facts for political gain.
Speaking during an interview with Germany-based DW TV, Mahama sought to set the record straight by highlighting the positive economic indicators his administration achieved at the time of handing over power.
According to Mahama, contrary to the NPP’s persistent narrative of inheriting a struggling economy, the NDC’s stewardship ensured stability and growth, leaving the economy in robust shape for the incoming government.
Mahama asserted that his government’s management of the economy defied expectations, producing strong fiscal and macroeconomic results.
He further refuted claims that the economic growth Ghana experienced in 2017 was a result of policies introduced by the NPP administration. Instead, he credited the groundwork laid by his government, which saw the introduction of major economic drivers and revenue sources during the latter part of his term.
“Our end-of-term numbers were good. For an election year in 2016, we ended with a budget deficit of 6.1 percent. We ended with a debt-to-GDP ratio of less than 57 percent debt to GDP. We financed the Government of Ghana budget, our budget that year, with zero Central Bank financing, so that narrative that we left an economic mess is absolutely untrue. We handed over this economy to the administration that is just going out with predictions of 8 percent growth in 2017.
“And so the 8 percent growth in 2017 had absolutely nothing to do with the new government that came in. We brought on stream two new oil fields with fresh revenues from petroleum. We increased cocoa production to almost a million tons and brought in $2 billion into the economy. And so the narrative that we left an economic mess is wrong.”
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