Flashback: I won’t preside over 'tax, borrow & spend' government – Akufo-Addo in 2016

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said there is no contradiction between Ghana Beyond Aid and his government’s dallying with China over borrowing, emphasizing that there is nothing wrong with borrowing.

As the Guest of Honour at the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum, in Lagos, Nigeria followed by MyNewsGH.com on Thursday, 25th October 2018, the president was quoted as saying “Borrowing money is not aid, what President Xi Jinping offered is a $60 billion fund which African countries can assess, not as aid but loans. If you can produce a project which the Chinese think it is worth supporting you can have access to such money and you have to pay it back. We’ll borrow money, everybody borrows money…”

MyNewsGh.com, however, recalls that in the build-up to the 2016 elections, the president gave an assurance he was not going to preside over a tax, borrow and spend government as was in the case of former president, John Dramani Mahama.

Recently, maverick politician and businessman, Kennedy Agyapong bemoaned the tax regime of the current administration, lamenting how it has affected businesses which were collapsing in chains.

Citing his own experience, he stated that if the Akufo-Addo government is not aware of the implications of its tax imposition decisions on Ghanaian businesses, then he himself visited some areas in Tema and reported that high taxes “doesn’t make sense”.

“Your aim is tax. You can tax the workers when you create a lot of employment. Right now you have taxed everything and companies are collapsing it does not make sense. If I get time I will meet the President will tell him physically what I saw in Tema. It started long ago but when I speak they refused to listen to me. Why is it that the economy of America was doing well under Obama?” he quizzed.

Below is the exact text and quotes of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo the buildup to the 2016 elections (June 2016 courtesy the Chronicle Newspaper)

The 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is assuring Ghanaians that a vote for him in this year’s elections will mean a complete departure from the failed policies of the Mahama government, which have brought untold hardships and suffering to the Ghanaian people.

“My approach is going to be different from that of John Mahama. It is not going to be tax, borrow and spend. My priority will be to reduce the cost of doing business to help small-scale enterprises grow, and to make the Ghanaian economy become globally competitive,” he said.