Addison Using DDEP As Cover- Mahama
Former President John Dramani Mahama has stated that the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Ernest Addison is only using the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) as a cover for mismanaging the Bank.
His comment comes on the back of the Bank’s justification for the GHC 60.8 billion loss recorded in 2022.
It explained that out of the total amount, the Bank said GHC53.1 billion resulted from Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) whereas price and exchange rate valuation effects resulted in GHC 5.2 billion of the total loss, and GH3.3 billion from interest expense on the cost of monetary policy operation accounted.
According to the Bank, the GHC53.1 billion loss resulted from the DDEP which positioned it as the loss absorber to the entire debt exchange program to save participants from principal haircuts.
In reaction, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) said the DDEP is just being used as a cover just as the Finance Minister has been using the COVID-19 pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine as a cover for his mismanagement of the economy.
“An incompetent Finance Minister damages the economy and uses Covid-19 and Ukraine/Russia war as cover-ups. A pliant Governor destroys the Central Bank and seeks to use DDE as a cover,” he tweeted on Thursday.
The DDEP was announced by the Finance Minister late last year as part of the government’s programme to get an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.
It was meant to transition 137 billion of the country’s domestic debt to sustainable levels. Under the Programme, domestic bondholders were asked to exchange their instruments for new ones.
