Ken Ofori-Atta Ghana’s worst Finance Minister – Kwame Pianim
Renowned Economist, Kwame Pianim, has described Ken Ofori-Atta as the worst Finance Minister to manage Ghana’s economy.
Making the assertion in an interview on Accra based TV3, the Statesman averred the Yale-trained Finance Minister has mismanaged the country’s economy given the enormous amounts of monies he has borrowed as the Finance Minister.
“No, he hasn’t done a good job, he’s over-borrowed and we are not getting value for money.
“He needs to realise that he’s not just a budget and expenditure Minister, but he’s Minister for Finance and finance means growing the economy.
“He says we are the fastest growing, that narrative is wrong,” he stated.
“When you say the economy is growing, everything is honky dorey and you are asking the working class to tighten their belt, of course, they are not going to tighten their belt. Look, Ken Ofori-Atta has borrowed more than any Minister for Finance,” he added.
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The country’s debt stock increased to GH¢344.6 billion at the end of November 2021 from GH¢291.8 billion at the end of 2020.
In terms of GDP, the total public debt as at end-November 2021 was 78.4 percent, higher than the 76.1 percent registered in December 2020.
Domestic component of Ghana’s total public debt increased to GHS 179.4bn in the year 2021.
According to the Bank of Ghana’s January 2022 Monetary Policy Report, total domestic debt as at November 2021, accounted for 52.1% of total public debt, a little over the 51.4% recorded in December 2020.
With regards to external debt, external debt on year-to-date basis increased by GH¢23.4 billion from GH¢141.8 billion (37.0% of GDP) at the end of December 2020 to GH¢165.1 billion (37.6% of GDP) as at November 2021.
External debt constituted 47.9 percent of total public debt at the end of November 2021, compared to 48.6 percent in December 2020.
