General News of Thursday, 14 November 2013

Source: XYZ

Bawumia is an Accountant, not an Economist – Tony Aidoo

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is competent as an Accountant, rather than an Economist, Head of Policy Monitoring and Evaluation at the Flagstaff House, Dr. Tony Aidoo, has told Radio XYZ.

“The problem with Dr Bawumia is that he presents himself as an Economist and yet his whole capability is that of an Accountant,” Dr. Aidoo said Thursday.

According to him, the twice-defeated vice presidential candidate of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), “talks about figures but he doesn’t understand the forces that create the figures so he takes the figures at their face-value and then play politics with it”.

At his inaugural Aliu Mahama memorial lecture Wednesday, Dr. Bawumia said though the NDC government is the only administration to have oil revenues at its disposal, it has done virtually nothing with that fortune.

He also accused the government of borrowing about US$20 billion since it came into power in 2009.

The former Deputy Central Bank Governor, who accused the Mahama administration of practising “Akonfem socialism”, also said the current administration is doing nothing to address the 12.1 per cent budget deficit recorded last year.

He also asked the NDC to stop blaming the implementation of the single spine salary structure for the country’s poor kitty.

Dr Tony Aidoo, however, said Dr Bawumia lacks the competence to make a correct analysis of the economy.