President John Dramani Mahama has said Ghana will continue to borrow for development purposes.

 

President John Dramani Mahama has said that the government will continue to borrow and use the money for productive ventures.

In an apparent response to suggestions that the government was borrowing too much, the President said there was nothing wrong with borrowing, provided the money was used for development.

“There are some who claim Ghana is borrowing too much and that it is increasing the nation’s debt stock, but I dare say if you borrow and use it prudently, you are on the right course and that is what is important,” the President stated.

Inaugurating a water project at Kyebi in the Eastern Region last Wednesday, President Mahama said there was evidence that developed countries achieved their level of development partly because they had engaged in prudent borrowing.

The President was in the Eastern Region for a two-day visit.

In a lecture on the country’s economy at the Central University College at Miotso, near Prampram near Accra, last Tuesday, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, the 2012 running mate of the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), had raised issues with Ghana’s debt stock.

No justification

President Mahama dismissed the assertion that the government was borrowing too much and, therefore, compounding the national debt stock.

He argued that once the money being borrowed was used for projects to better the lives of the people, there was no justification for anyone to have issues with the government.

Mr Mahama, therefore, stated that the government would continue to borrow and use the money for productive ventures such as the water project provided for the people of Akyem Abuakwa.

Touching on the national electrification project, for instance, the President said all that had been achieved was partially through loans.

“If today Ghana had electricity coverage of 75 per cent, which is next to South Africa in sub-Saharan Africa, loans had a good role to play,” he said.

President Mahama stated categorically that Ghana would never retrogress under his watch.

Hitting back at his critics who were predicting doom for the economy, he said the nation would rather continue to move forward in every sphere of life and that there was no turning back as long as he was at the helm of affairs.