Government will borrow, 'even America does' – Asibe

A member of the government’s Economic Management team Dr. Mark Asibe Yeboah has said the Akufo-Addo government will continue to borrow to embark on developmental projects .

He said the NPP government will not stop borrowing from the international market however it will make ‘smart borrowing ‘ where loans sourced will be injected into the productive sectors instead of the consumption sector .

“Nobody should think that the NPP government is not going to borrow ,there is no government in the world that doesn’t borrow even the US government secures loans, so the NPP government will continue to go for loans but that should be smart borrowing which can repay itself,” he said.

The ruling party then in opposition chastised the NDC government for engaging in excessive borrowing which raised the debt stock of the country to an unprecedented level.

President Nana Akufo-Addo then opposition leader said an NPP government would avoid reckless borrowing, adding that his government would do well to move away from the high fiscal deficit and reckless borrowing that had characterized the John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

Speaking on Kingdom FM, a local radio station in Koforidua on Thursday, the Member of Parliament for New Juaben South , Dr.Mark Asibe explained that because of the state of the Ghanaian economy , government cannot do without loans.

“We will go for loans because of the state of the economy .We will borrow into productive sectors; that is investment spending but remember we have about GHC122 billion debt we have to clear”.

He said the GHC 1.01 billion three-year domestic bond issued at a yield of 21.5 percent last month will be all for the fiscal year .

Dr Asibe Yeboah reassured Ghanaians that the government is working had to stabilize the economy to create several job opportunities .

He described the first 100 days of the government as ” a honeymoon period” as solutions are conceived to fix identified challenges of the country .

He said the 2017 budget statement is a manifestation of better days ahead for Ghanaians.