Govt too broke; ‘vampires’ can’t get ‘blood’ to suck – John Boadu assets

A member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, has warned Ghana’s economy could grind to a halt if government maintains its fiscal indiscipline.

He said the Mahama-led administration has within five years collapsed what he described as the once vibrant middle income economy with its insatiable appetite of borrowing from both domestic and international markets.

John Boadu made these comments during a radio talk show on recent agitations in the country by groups and individuals in reaction to utility tariff hikes and new taxes by government.

A 78.9 percent increment in electricity and 52 percent increment in water tariffs have been met with grave disapproval by Ghanaians.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) for instance has given the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and the government a 10-day ultimatum to slash the utility tariff increases to one-third.

TUC says it will embark on a strike if the ultimatum is disregarded.

But government is urging the TUC to use the right approaches to get their concerns resolved.

However, on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme on Tuesday, John Boadu noted that all indications point to the fact that the state coffers is completely dried up.

According to him, "vampires" in government who have all along been "milking the state of its resouces" can no more get any 'blood' to suck.

John Boadu attributed the current “precarious [economic] situation” to the massive borrowing, reckless spending and the poor management of the economy by the Mahama government.

The opposition NPP man expressed concern about the rising public debt which stood at GH¢ 9 billion in 2008 under the erstwhile Kufuor administration but has now skyrocketed to GH¢ 43.5 billion.

“There is nothing to show for these massive borrowing”, he added.

He could not fathom why despite the billions generated from oil revenue and the increase in the prices of the country´s export products like cocoa, gold and others, the economy has grown from bad to worst.

John Boadu said if the current trend persists, government will be left with nothing to undertake developmental projects.