Debt Exchange Programme: ‘There will be shared pain’ – Gabby Otchere-Darko
Private legal practitioner, Gabby Otchere-Darko, has hinted at the consequences of government’s debt exchange programme.
According to him, “there will be some shared pain’.
The NPP stalwart made this assertion in response to the Finance Ministry’s tweet on the extension of deadline for the debt exchange programme.
“4 key issues/developments here: 1 Govt is engaging reps of individual stakeholders. 2. There is no credible alternative to the debt exchange programme. 3. Individual bondholders deserve much better protection than currently on offer. 4. There will still be some shared pain”, he tweeted.
Mr Otchere-Darko’s comment ties into an earlier assertion where he acknowledged the present challenges in the country.
In a tweet on Sunday, he said Ghana is in a ‘very difficult place’.
The view has also been shared by many Ghanaians given the country’s present economic conditions.
Ghana is currently in talks with the global lender, IMF, for a deal to help salvage the country’s ailing economy.
If approved, the deal will help Ghana to properly balance its books and project better prospects for the economy.
But according to Mr Otchere-Darko, this can be possible if government’s domestic debt exchange programme is embraced by all and sundry.
He has therefore been urging individual bondholders to rally behind government for the successful implementation of the programme.
The deadline for the implementation of the programme has however been extended to deepen stakeholder conversation.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has called for the suspension of the entire programme.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu said the programme as currently structured will worsen the plight of Ghanaians, hence the need for the President to put it on hold and consult some more.
“We in the NDC, the Minority group call on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to immediately suspend the ongoing debt exchange programme. It is already failing”, he stressed.
In his submission, he further emphasised that the present programme if implemented, will have dire consequences on individual bondholders who are already struggling amidst the economic crisis.
Whie calling for the suspension, he also noted that if the programme is implemented, it will stifle the growth of the financial sector which can lead to its entire collapse.
Source: Ghana News
