NPP economic performance below par – Terkper rates gov’t

Minister of Finance under the John Mahama administration Seth Terkper says the current economic situation in the country is worrying.

The former minister stated that the economic situation of the country can best be described as “below par”.

“If you look at the resources, it’s the only way you can describe it.”

Speaking on Onua TV on Monday, August 31, Mr Terkper was of the view that the country’s performances financially could not be blamed solely on COVID-19.

According to him, data showed that the economy was not doing great even before COVID-19.

Ghana’s total debt as at March 2020 stood at GH¢236.1billion. This figure sends the country’s debt to GDP ratio to 59.3 per cent.

The total debt is reported to be over GH¢100 billion since the current government took office.

There has been moves to service the debt.

Among this is the controversial Agyapa Mineral Royalty deal.

Reacting to this, the former Finance Minister questioned the arrangement.

“There must be something wrong with the arrangement. Why a tax haven?”

When asked whether the deal was purposefully to enrich some members of government, he replied that “I wouldn’t like to speculate because I didn’t like it myself when speculations about me were going around when I was in office”.