Former President, John Dramani Mahama has blamed the current catastrophic state of the country’s economy on the reckless election-related expenditure by government in the year 2020.

In a piece published on Monday, Mr Mahama argued that progress would have been made if not for ‘profligacy’ and the wasteful election related spending.

“Our economy would not have taken the catastrophic nose-dive it has taken and left us all reeling under hardship,” he said.

His comment comes after concerns were raised by Ghanaians following a warning from Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, that there will be dire economic consequences for the country should the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) bill continue to be rejected.

Mr Mahama said with all the monies received by government, “It is a pity that today, the NPP's entire economic plan hinges on the passage of an E-levy expected to raise a little over Gh¢6 billion.”

According to Mr Mahama, the Akufo-Addo-led administration in 2020 and 2021 received and misapplied a sum of about GH¢33 billion from different entities.

Giving more details, he mentioned the “$1 billion concessional facility from the IMF, another $1 billion in SDR allocation, $430 million from the World Bank, $250 million from the Stabilization Fund, and the Gh¢10 billion from the Central Bank”.

This, he described as the largest “windfall or bailout in Ghana's history.”

He, therefore, urged government to overlook its embarrassment for failing to address the country’s economic challenges and urgently engage stakeholders to revive the economy.

He added that “the NDC stands prepared to aid in the salvage effort because inaction is not an option in the face of disaster.”