The Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur has mocked NPP running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia asking him to revisit his basics in economics after the latter asserted in his recent public lecture that government is spending more money to refinance debt than it spends on productive assets.
Speaking at the launch of the Gt. Accra Zonal campaign at Ashaiman in Accra yesterday, Mr. Amissah Arthur expressed his disappointment to the Economists and former Deputy governor of the Central Bank.
Dr. Bawumia delivering a paper on the theme ‘ State of the Economy; A foundation of Concrete or Straw at his public lecture last week blamed the governing NDC for reckless borrowing, over-pricing government contracts and widespread corruption. He chided government for spending more on interest obligations than capital expenditure.
“To put the interest payments on the debt in context, we should note that the entire allocations in the 2016 budget to the Ministries of Roads and Highways, Trade and Industry, Food and Agriculture, Water Resources, Works and Housing, Youth and Sports, and Ministry of Transport amounted to a total of GH¢2.1 billion. Interest payments in 2016 (GH¢10.5 billion) would be five times what was allocated to these six key ministries combined,” he said.
But the Vice President responding to Bawumia’s claims said the NPP running mate won’t get away with the misinformation and lies he told during the public lecture insisting that at the appropriate time Bawumia would be schooled on the real state of the economy.
“How can you say that we pay interest more than capital expenditure. It’s that capital expenditure’s money that we’re paying as interest. So this one it’s a simple thing in primary school you learn it… You don’t pay interest if you have not borrowed money. So you cannot come and say that interest payments have exceeded capital payments.
He added “We shall correct him and teach him the things that he doesn’t know which he thinks he knows”
