Debt exchange presents bigger, worse problems for Ghana in future – Senyo Hosi

The Ghana Individual Bondholders Forum has re-emphasised its opposition to the Domestic Debt Exchange programme insisting that government makes some fiscal adjustments.

Convener of the group maintains the only way out for Ghana in its current crisis is for the government to adopt pragmatic strategies to reduce the country’s indebtedness.

Senyo Hosi intimates that any attempt to roll out a debt exchange programme rather than ensuring major expenditure cuts will just end in a much worse vicious cycle of debts in future.

“The Finance Minister must take the hard decision and start cleaning the mess in our governance structure if it includes looking at our constitution. If the Finance Minister doesn’t work on his oversight and doesn’t work on his fiscal controls, these are the problems he will have. He will solve this debt operation, and then we will end up coming back and entering into a bigger debt exchange for Ghana.”

“People will go on a spending spree in 2023 if this debt operation is done. People will go on another spending spree in 2024, and then we will have a very sad Auditor General report to read in 2024 and 2025”, he told Selorm Adonoo on Citi TV on Monday.

After several postponements, the deadline for the domestic exchange expires today, Tuesday, January 31, 2023.

Following discussions with the technical committee set up by the government to resolve issues surrounding the DDE, the individual bondholders added that with the set target of 80% of eligible bonds, Individual Bondholders are not a critical success factor to the viability of the programme, yet the impact of their inclusion has incalculable consequences.

It thus recommended among other things, fiscal adjustments including the divestiture of loss-making, defunct and troubled 17 State–own enterprises.

“I don’t think this is the legacy the Finance Minister and the NPP would want to end with. The problem we have is with our bad management of our activities. I pity the Finance Minister, that’s why he is taking the easiest route of debt exchange, but that will not solve the problem. We have to solve recklessness, corruption and irresponsibility in our fiscal management. That is the way forward. If we don’t do that, we will come back to this. The real problem is not being solved.”