It is Stone Age mentality to think borrowing and taxes are bad- Fifi Kwetey Former Deputy Finance Minister, Fifi Kwetey, says complaints that government is borrowing unsustainably are borne of antiquated, stone-age mentality. He says development is not cheap and the government’s imposition of taxes and taking up of loans are investments which demonstrates smart leadership. The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP’s) Members of Parliament walked out of Parliament when a bill to impose a 17.5 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on petroleum products was laid before the House under a certificate of urgency this week. The Minority complained the government was worsening the already harsh living conditions in the country by imposing the tax. The opposition NPP has consistently labeled the National Democratic Congress government as reckless in its borrowing. The country’s debt stock has risen from nine billion Ghana cedis in 2009 to almost 70 billion in 2014. Finance Minister, Seth Terkper told Parliament Wednesday “Ghana’s public debt stock as a percentage of GDP has been rising over the years. It increased from 36.3 percent in 2009 to 48.03 percent in 2012 and further to 55.53 percent in 2013.” He said, “As at end of September 2014, the debt stock stood at 60.8 percent, largely on account of increase in external net disbursements for infrastructure projects and net domestic issuance, and the depreciation of the cedi. “The provisional public debt stock as at end September 2014,” the minister noted, “stood at GH¢69,705.90 million (US$21,733.51 million).” The Minority have pointed to this as unsustainable borrowing. But speaking on Joy FM and MultiTV’s news analysis programme Newsfile, Saturday, Fifi Kwetey, who is currently the Minister for Agric, said “Back in the late fifties, and the early sixties when Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana’s first president) started borrowing to be build infrastructure, these same people (NPP) started shouting, debt, debt, and debt. I am saying, don’t call it debt, call investment because that is what it is.”
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 16:00:41 +0000
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