The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has denied claims that the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) government inherited a frail economy in 2016.

According to the party, President Akufo-Addo is the luckiest and most-resourced President in the country's history, having had access to an unprecedented resource envelope of over ¢370 billion in the last three and half years.

The party’s Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, during their Weekly Press Briefings Wednesday, contested allegations that the NDC handed over a weak economy to the NPP.

He also maintained that former President John Mahama’s comments concerning the debt position of the country are factual.

“Our Public debt which stood at ¢120 billion as at December 2016, has ballooned to ¢258.8 billion, (i.e as at June 2020). Also, our debt to GDP ratio which stood at 55.6% as of December 2016, has increased to 68.3% and projected by the IMF to hit 76.7% by December this year.

“What this means is that President Akufo Addo has added more debt, i.e. a whopping ¢138 billion and still counting, to Ghana’s Public debt in only three and half years, far more than any government has done in the history of this country, and far more than all successive governments since independence, have cumulatively added to the country’s Public debt,” he said.

To back up his claims, Mr Gyamfi observed among others that the NPP inherited a number of funds from the Mahama-led administration.

"The Akufo Addo-government inherited the innovative Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) which had $270 million in it- a fund set up to help leverage global financing to accelerate infrastructure development in the country.

"The NDC bequeathed to the Akufo Addo-government, a sinking fund of $300 million for the amortization of the $750 million Eurobond the Kuffour government issued in 2007. Yet, the NPP lies that they inherited an economic mess" he noted.

Concerning Energy, the NDC Communications Officer said asides resolving the issue of 'Dumsor', the party had bequeathed the ESLA Fund to deal with legacy debts that had "bedeviled the energy sector for decades".

"This fund has yielded averagely ¢3 billion yearly since the NPP took office in 2017" he added.

Sammy Gyamfi also accentuated that the country's financial service standing had relapsed under the ruling NPP.

"The Akufo Addo-government, met a financial services sector that had grown by 8.1% in 2016, far higher than the 1.7% growth they recorded for the sector in 2019; A manufacturing sector that saw 7.9% growth in 2016; higher than the 6.3% growth recorded they in 2019.

"A construction sector that had grown by 8.4% in 2016-far higher than the -4.4% growth they recorded for the sector in 2019. Yet, they continue to lie that they inherited an economic mess".

He concluded by appealing to the general public to vote out Akufo-Addo and the NPP during the December 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.