Ghana government won’t borrow to pay debts in 2016 – Minister

The Ghana government says from 2016, it won’t borrow to pay up its debts.

A deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Cassiel Ato Forson told journalists in Accra at a Post Budget Analysis Forum that the government would not accumulate any more debt  from 2016, as it would not borrow to pay up its debts.

He said the government is targeting at reducing the primary deficit and Ghanaians should “expect primary surplus” in the coming years.

Mr Forson stated that the government has also worked at reducing the percentage of wage bill to GDP. He said the wage bill to GDP which was 8.8 percent in 2013 is now 8.3 percent in 2015.

According to him much of the government debt are not debts. He said debts such as that of the Ghana Gas Company and the Volta River Authority are not debts, but “contingency liabilities” and these companies are servicing the debts themselves.

He also indicated that the government has removed over 5000 ghost names from the payroll

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi