Ghana government urged to pursue value for money to achieve debt sustainability
Experts have enjoined the government to get value for the money it borrows to fund projects to guarantee debt sustainability in the 2023 fiscal year.
They also counselled the government to introduce a loan monitoring scheme to supervise the funds used to finance capital projects.
The experts made the call in Accra on Thursday at the Economic Sustainability Summit organized by Media General in collaboration with African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) and IMANI Ghana.
Mr Benjamin Boakye, Executive Director ACEP said the government must monitor the loans contracted to ensure value for money in the award of contracts.
“We do not have the mechanism to track how the borrowed funds are used or performing.
“We have the Audit Service doing their periodic checks on selected projects and sometimes do it in two- or three-year period after the project has been completed but we don’t have anybody tracking how the borrowed funds are used,’’ he said.
Mr Boakye said the framework for awarding contracts made it impossible to repay the loans that the government had contracted.
“Much of our debts can be blamed on procurement…85 per cent of our contracts are awarded through restricted tender and direct negotiation, we cannot proceed to pay our high-interest debts with this kind of procurement,’’ he said.
Mr Boakye advised the government to improve the procurement processes to enhance the efficient use of public funds in the public sector.
He however blamed the country’s debt situation on the pressure on the public wage bill occasioned by the duplication of state institutions that performed the same functions.
Prof. Godfred Bokpin, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School said the government should pursue debt restructuring, and fiscal and structural adjustments policies to achieve debt sustainability.
He said the government must also ensure that its expenditure did not exceed revenue to avoid a budget deficit.
Source: GNA