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Vice Presidential candidate of the
New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia has stated that the budget
deficit recorded last year which is provisionally estimated at GHC 8.7
billion can finance free secondary education for at least 8 years.
The
running Mate to Nana Akufo-Addo and former Deputy Governor of the Bank
of Ghana bemoaned the fact that though the government had through
excessive spending recorded such a high deficit, there was virtually
nothing to show for the high deficit and indicated his sadness that, the
government found enough money to prosecute an extravagant electoral
campaign while at the same time claiming there was not enough money to
finance the education of Ghanaian children.
These statements of Dr. Bawumia were contained in a post he made on his personal facebook page on Thursday.
The post reads “Do
you know that the budget deficit incurred for 2012, provisionally
estimated at GHC 8.7 billion (and likely to be much higher) can provide
free senior secondary education for at least 8 years? Just think about
it, we could have used this money to finance 8 years of free senior
secondary school education! At least we would have had something
concrete to show for such a deficit. Yet we were told that Ghana could
not afford free senior secondary education. What do we really have to
show for the 2012 deficit? When it comes to election campaigns we
somehow find the money but not when it comes to the education of our
children. So sad ! ”
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, earlier in
February revealed that the 2012 budget deficit provisionally estimated
8.7billion Ghana cedis and amounting to 12.1% of GDP using the rebased
GDP numbers (or some 20% of GDP in terms of the old GDP series), was the
highest recorded budget deficit in Ghana’s history, indicating that the
budget deficit of 2012 was almost double the budget deficit of 2008,
which the NDC after taking office in January 2009, described as
reckless.
He noted in his article titled “The Economy is on an Unsustainable path with the Highest Budget Deficit in Ghana’s History”
that despite the more favorable economic opportunities prevailing
currently as compared to the year 2008, the NDC failed to live up to its
word of managing the economy prudently in the election year as a result
of unbridled spending which has put the economy in bad shape and which
inevitably would lead to dire consequences on especially Ghana’s poor
with hikes expected in almost all the essentials of living.
“In
2008, Ghana was not an oil producer and the global economy was in
crisis. In 2012, on the other hand, Ghana was an oil producer facing a
favorable external environment for its exports and yet managed to double
the 2008 budget (which this government described at the time as
“reckless”) and in the process achieved what is a truly unprecedented
budget deficit in Ghana’s history. The government promised last year
that its management of the economy would be more prudent than that of
other governments in previous election years. Despite all the favorable
opportunities at its disposal, 2012 has turned out to be the worst
election year outcome in Ghana’s history in terms of the management of
public finances. This is also yet another failed NDC promise,” Dr
Bawumia stated. | |
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