The Minister of Finance Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has asked for forgiveness from Ghanaians for the current economic hardship being experienced as a result of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
He apologized after the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong advised members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to admit their mistakes in government.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Accra on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, Dr. Amin Adam pointed out that the DDEP was a condition by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), required to restructure the country’s growing debt.
He explained that the government did not deliberately plan to impose economic hardship on Ghanaians through the DDEP.
“We decided to restructure our debts because it was one of the requirements by the IMF. We started with the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, the DDEP was a very successful programme, achieving 95% participation. And on this note, I would like to appeal to the people of Ghana to forgive us, forgive us”, he pleaded.
He promised that government will work very hard to bring some economic relief to the people through effective fiscal policies.
“It is never the intention of any government to impose hardships on its people. More so, the NPP government has demonstrated that we want to reduce the burden on the Ghanaian people.
Describing the DDEP as difficult decision that was taken, Dr. Amin Adam said it was a step that had no other option.
“It was a necessary, very important decision at the time, that if we had avoided it, our economy would not recover as it has recovered today. The decisions we made, and all the support you gave us during the DDEP have contributed largely to the recovery our economy is seeing today”.
Reiterating his appeal for forgiveness, he stated that it is time to reverse the trend and grow the economy for improved wellbeing.
“This is why I want to appeal to you to forgive us. But also to thank you on behalf of the president for the sacrifices, for the efforts that you all have made participating in the DDEP that saved our economy,”he pleaded again.
Impact of DDEP
The DDEP was an exercise taken by government to restructure the country’s growing debt stock.
It was a cardinal requirement as part of the IMF programme to help Ghana access some $3 billion bailout facility over a period 3 years.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has already been impacted by the DDEP, forcing the central bank to seek recapitalisation from development partners.
The BoG, in its 2023 annual financial report, disclosed that DDEP had affected its balance sheet.
Thus, the bank had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to secure early recapitalisation in the medium-to-long term.
This, according to the bank, was within the context of the second review of the IMF programme, which concluded on April 12, 2024.
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