Akufo Addo didn’t apply common sense in solving the banking crisis – Mahama

The government’s actions and inactions have resulted in millions of sustainable jobs being lost between 2017 and now, John Mahama, flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has said.

Contrary to claims by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government have created jobs for the Ghanaian people, Mahama said more jobs have rather been lost in the fourth Republic.

He said the collapse of some seven banks and 347 microfinance institutions by the government has led to massive job losses.

The job losses were recorded within the banking and finance, telecommunication, media, energy, and other sectors of the economy. The financial sector crises for instance as we witnessed led to about 25,000 job losses.

Speaking on how the banking crisis would have been resolved, Mahama said the government should have applied common sense by bailing them out, taken equity in those institutions, and when they become liquid again, give their equity back to them and take back the government’s money.

“They’ve closed financial institutions. It’s not that the financial institutions didn’t have problems when we were in government, we knew there was a problem but we realised that the problem was a very complicated one and, so, we needed time to resolve it and make sure you don’t throw the baby away with the bathwater.

“We needed GH¢9 billion to bail out the financial institutions that they closed down. Instead of investing GH¢9 billion and it’s not money they would have been throwing away because you would have injected GH¢9 billion, taken equity in those financial institutions, and as they become liquid again, you give them back the equity and take your money back, simple!

“That’s why I said the government is common sense. And yet you go and collapse all these financial institutions and now you owe GH¢22 billion when you could have used GH¢9 billion to solve the problem. You create the problem and now you owe GH¢22 billion and you assure the people of their money and today they say pay our money and that is another story,” Mahama added.

Source: TheBBCghana.Com