Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, vice-presidential nominee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was wrong in claiming the fiscal deficit of Ghana in 2012 was 12.2%, Cassiel Ato Forson, a Deputy Minister of Finance, has said.
Dr Bawumia made the claim during a public lecture on the theme: ‘State of Ghana’s Economy – Foundation of Concrete or Straw?’ on Thursday September 8 in Accra.
He said among other things that: “Under the eight years of the NPP government, from 2001-2009, taxes and loans amounted to GHS20 billion and without oil, economic growth increased from 3.7 per cent to 9.1 per cent. But in contrast, GDP per capita has declined by 12 per cent under John Mahama’s tenure as president when oil revenue and loans alone over the eight-year period of 2009-2016 would amount to GHS248billion,”
But responding to the lecture, Mr Forson said: “That (fiscal deficit claim) is not correct: it was 11.5%”, adding: “He was also woefully wrong to say the deficit was 11.7% in 2013 when the data showed it was 10.2%.
“So, in anyway, you cannot say that NPP’s growth [of the economy] was far better than NDC’s. Eight years of NPP cannot be compared to seven years under the NDC.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
