$19bn Chinese Fund...Ato Forson 'Not Knowledgeable' – Veep’s Advisor

Technical Advisor to the vice president, Dr. Gideon Boako has lambasted the Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Mr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson for comment he described as “needless”.

The minority in Parliament criticised the government for negotiating about $19billion with China, and indicated that the amount which they insist is a loan would plunge the country into a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) status.

"It is going to plunge the country into an era of debt distress. We are going to be very stressed as debt is concerned.

"Ghana's GDP is approximated at $45 billion. They are giving us a debt half of the size of the country's economy. Ghana is going to be debt stressed because of this," Mr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson said during a press briefing. 

However, on NEAT FM’s morning show ‘Ghana Montie’, Dr. Gideon Boako says it’s rather unfortunate for such comment to be uttered by “someone who was Ghana’s Deputy Finance Minister.”

“Ato Forson is either doing politics with this issue or he is not knowledgeable with issues like this,” he told host Kwesi Aboagye.

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia led the government team for the $15billion funding partnership agreement and commitment reached between the Government of Ghana and China.

There is an opening for an additional GHc4 billion during his recent visit to that country.

Even though the minority has maintained that the fund is a loan from the Chinese government - Dr. Gideon Boako has emphatically stated that the fund is not a loan but rather a joint business venture between the two countries.