Ghana Must Borrow More � Omane Boamah

The controversial debate about the rate at which Ghana has been borrowing has come up again with government insistent that it needs to borrow more to properly develop the country. The latest comments came from the Deputy Minister for Science and Environment, Dr. Omane Boamah. Speaking on Citi FM�s Breakfast Show on Wednesday September 7, he opined �We need to borrow and I have a message for those who think we are borrowing too much: In fact 3 billion dollars is not enough, government must borrow some more to solve the problems that this country is facing.� Dr. Omane Boamah �If we are going for 3 billion dollars to be able to fix the Western Corridor Gas infrastructure which in itself will translate into the cost of electricity dropping monumentally which in itself would translate into us as a government going to taxi and commercial drivers and begging them to change their fuel systems from petrol to gas, as opposed to now that we are dealing with how to provide a lot more gas for people, why should somebody say we are borrowing too much when that borrowing is going to lead to a reversal of this? When that borrowing to establish this Western Corridor Gas Infrastructure is going to lend itself to the integrated aluminum industry where we are going to extract a lot of bauxite?� The Deputy Minister�s comments come on the back of a similar response from Vice President John Dramani Mahama to NPP flagbearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who criticized government for excessive borrowing and advised the Mills government to borrow more responsibly. Dr. Omane Boamah said the current borrowing by government is in the interest of the country, adding that government should rather borrow more if the development in terms of infrastructure in the country is to be achieved.