The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has quashed claims that Ghana has been listed as a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) due to its declining economic situation.
There were reports in the media that Ghana has gone back to HIPC but Oppong Nkrumah says that is propaganda being done by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
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Mr Oppong Nkrumah responded to the allegations at the fifth edition of the Nation Building Updates in Accra. Ghana exited HIPC in July 2004.
"We (government) categorically say that it is not true that Ghana has been declared HIPC or have been added to a list of HIPC countries. The highly indebted poor countries initiative or the HIPC Initiative was a particular programme that was rolled out by international organisations like the World Bank, the IMF and the Donor partners in 2001.
"Ghana exited the HIPC programme in 2004, from 1996 the IMF and World Bank have been publishing countries that get in an out of their programmes, What we have noticed the flagbearer of the NDC is going around spreading falsehood and his social media team are amplifying it claiming Ghana's mention on that list from 1996 means we are back to HIPC. Ghana is no longer a poor country and technically can't go for HIPC. What Mahama and his cohorts are pushing out is not true," he said on Joy News.
The Minister said such viral fake news reports were part of a broad and deliberate strategy by some persons to deceive the public ahead of the December 7 polls.
He noted that currently, there was no ongoing HIPC programme under implementation by the IMF or World Bank.
He added that the Akufo-Addo-led government upon assumption of office in 2017 was implementing strategic programmes and policies that restored the bad economic situation inherited from the previous government and that all the macroeconomic and fiscal indicators were heading on the right direction.
The burgeoning economic status, the Minister said, enabled the Akufo-Addo-led government to roll out various social interventions such as the free supply of water and subsidised electricity to lifeline consumers during the COVID- 19 pandemic restrictions.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah explained that the Kufuor-led government after inheriting a bad economy in 2001 applied for the HIPC programme, which resulted in the cancellation of portions of the country's debts and has since exited the programme.
The Minister urged the media to do thorough cross-checking of any information well before publication since some persons had hatched the plan of disseminating false news ahead of the elections.
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