The Executive Director of Policy Think Tank, Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI) Ghana, Mr Peter Bismark Kwofie, has called on the Finance Minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, to be more transparent about the ongoing debt restructuring exercise.
Mr Kwofie said according to the finance minister, the total public debt stock including State Own Enterprises (SOEs) exceeds 100% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This he said is scary and soon customers of banks may be restricted to daily withdrawals if the targets of debt restructuring are not achieved in the short term.
The government in its three consecutive budgets (2022, mid-year budget and 2023) failed to quantify how much it is saving from cutting down the use of V8 vehicles, a freeze on creating new agencies or institutions and a 30% cut on salaries of some public officials.
“It’s therefore important to ensure transparency in this debt restructuring policy of the government. Fiscal and monetary transparency should guide the government to build confidence for all stakeholders to support the recovery process.
“It’s also imperative for the government to listen to views and suggestions of development experts, economists and Civil Society Organizations as it puts together debt restructuring policies. This would equally help build confidence for these experts to support the reforms,” he stated.
He said should this debt restructuring policy fails in the short term, the economy would fall lower than expected and could increase the debt to GDP by at least 130% by December 2023.
