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Ex-Deputy
Finance Minister accuses Finance Minister for deceit
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghana
Accra, Aug 28, Ghanadot -
Ex-Deputy Finance Minister, in the Kufuor-led government has
accused the Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor of deceit
in his presentation of the supplementary budget to
Parliament on Tuesday.
According to Dr. Akoto Osei, the Finance Minister painted a
great picture of the country’s economy earlier in the year
to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order for the
Briton Wood Institution to grant a loan agreement to the
government of Ghana. He told
some journalists at Parliament.
The ex-Deputy Minister produced a letter purported to have
been written by the Finance Minister to the IMF on the floor
of Parliament, in which the minister allegedly touted the
decline in interest rates and other stable macro economic
indicators in order for the loan to be approved.
Dr. Osei was therefore surprised that the same Minister
turned round to accuse his predecessor of mismanaging and
running down the economy in his Supplementary Budget
presentation.
Dr. Akoto Osei who is also a Ranking Member of Finance, made
these observations on Thursday when Members of Parliament
subjected the supplementary budget to a debate on the floor
of the House.
He also chided the ‘strong language’ he said the Finance
Minister used during the budget presentation, and demanded
an unqualified apology.
Dr. Duffour in his presentation said the economy had not
only been run down, but the bad governance of the previous
administration led into colossal judgment debts for the NDC
government.
This, according to the ex-official, could not be true.
He said the NPP left a better economy in 2008 than it
inherited in 2001. He said the NPP left an inflation rate of
18 per cent in 2008, when indeed it had inherited 41 per
cent interest rate.
Interest rate, according to him was 50 per cent in 2001, but
the NPP left a modest interest rate of 27 per cent in 2008.
These figures, he said, do not reflect a run-down economy as
charged by the Finance Minister.
Ghanadot
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