A former Member of Parliament and onetime Deputy Finance Minister, Moses Asaga, says International Credit Ratings Agency, Moody’s was honest in its assessment of Ghana’s economy.
Mr. Asaga said Moody’s recent rating cannot be overlooked as it presents a good opportunity for the government to devise austere measures to salvage the economy.
He thus implored the government to take the rating seriously and work towards reviving the economy.
“I think that the rating agency has been very fair because from 2018 to 2020 both SMP, Moodys and even Fitch were giving them B positive and all that so they have been very fair.”
Moody’s downgraded Ghana’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to Caa1 from B3, and changed the outlook from negative to stable.
It said the new rating reflects the woes of Ghana in fixing its liquidity and debt challenges.
The Finance Ministry subsequently rejected the rating saying it was puzzled that the country had been downgraded, despite the recent fiscal consolidation measures announced by the government.
Mr. Asaga on Citi TV’s Face to Face however insisted that the rating was a true reflection of the current state of Ghana’s economy.
“It [The rating] is just a reflection of a distortion of the fundamentals so they should take it and work with it rather than argue with it because when they were given fairly good ratings, they did not come out to say no our ratings have superseded what we had.”
He, therefore, asked the government to rather focus on engaging in extensive consultations in reviving the economy, than seeking to appeal the rating.
