Former Finance Minister Dr Mohammed Amin Adam has defended the Akufo-Addo administration’s borrowing during the COVID-19 pandemic, insisting that the loans secured were necessary rather than reckless.

According to him, the economic crisis caused by the pandemic required urgent financial intervention, and the government acted responsibly in securing funds to stabilise the economy.

Speaking in an interview on Channel One TV on Monday, 17 March, Dr Amin Adam dismissed accusations that the government’s debt management strategy was irresponsible.

He questioned the basis of such criticisms, stating, “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 further explained that responsible debt management involves both borrowing and ensuring sustainability. Dr Amin Adam asserted that the Akufo-Addo government had taken strategic steps to manage the country’s debt burden.

“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 questioned.

The former finance minister also highlighted the fact that every administration inherits and services debts from its predecessor.

He pointed out that the Akufo-Addo government had settled obligations left by the Mahama administration in 2016, stressing that debt management is a continuous process.

Dr Amin Adam concluded that had the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won the 2024 elections, they would have continued managing Ghana’s debt in line with their fiscal policies.

Criticising the current government, he remarked, “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.”