Former Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has defended the Akufo-Addo administration’s borrowing practices, arguing that loans secured during the COVID-19 pandemic were essential and should not be deemed as mismanagement.
Speaking in an interview on Channel One TV, Dr. Amin Adam responded to criticisms of the government’s debt strategy, emphasizing the necessity of these financial decisions in tackling the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic.
“I don’t know how anybody would describe the borrowing to address the COVID-19 pandemic as reckless borrowing. I don’t know if anybody is right to call that reckless borrowing,” he stated.
He stressed the importance of responsible debt management, noting that borrowing must be strategic and balanced with sustainability. According to him, the government’s approach was aimed at fostering a stable and productive economic environment.
“It takes a government that understands debt dynamics to be able to borrow and negotiate a reduction in debt. And so, if we borrowed from an unsustainable level, the question should be, by the time we left, were the debt levels sustainable or not?” he added.
Dr. Amin Adam also pointed out that every government inherits and manages debts from its predecessor, stating that the Akufo-Addo administration took significant steps to address the financial obligations left by the Mahama administration in 2016.
He suggested that had the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won the 2024 elections, they would have remained committed to managing Ghana’s debt with a strong sense of fiscal responsibility.
“I don’t see why he [Finance Minister] would be running away from the issues they asked Ghanaians to vote for them to come address,” he remarked.