Former President John Dramani Mahama has declared his unwavering support for the debt restructuring program currently being implemented by the Akufo-Addo-led administration.
But he said he wasn’t against it, he was against the lack of dialogue.
Speaking at Chatham House in London on Saturday, January 27, on the theme of “Africa’s Strategic Priorities and Global Role” Mr. Mahama pointed out that Ghana needs to restructure its debt to revive the economy but lamented the wrong procedure adopted by Finance. The minister said that it has led to a massive rejection of the program by individual bondholders and various labor unions.
“I am not against debt restructuring. What I am saying is that there is no dialogue and consultation with the debtors on the domestic side. I know that the negotiations are done with the bondholders on the external side but there is no similar treatment on the domestic side.
“I have been an advocate for dialogue. Before this crisis started, I advised the government and said that it should hold a national dialogue on the economy, present the economic situation and let everyone know and then find a broad consensus behind the economic program. But this never do and what you want will happen.
The former President accused the government of failing to heed the advice of the opposition on reducing debt and spending scarce resources wisely.
He blamed the mismanagement and recklessness of the Akufo-Addo government for the current economic crisis.
“We have raised a red flag since 2019 about the reckless debt of the government. Go to the Eurobond market every year for 3 billion dollars and do not invest in the productive sector of the economy and use it mostly for consumption and this is what has ended up where we are now.
In the government’s efforts to address the country’s economic woes, the government launched the Debt Exchange Program to invite bondholders to voluntarily exchange the GH¢137 billion domestic notes and bonds of the Republic including ESLA and Daakye for a new package of bonds.
The domestic debt exchange program since its announcement has faced great opposition from groups of workers who could get their pensions released. Some groups made up of individual bondholders also rejected the program by the government.
Source: Daily Guide
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