Debt Exchange Program: Gov’t Can’t Redraw Its Debt Exchange Program – Economist To Minority Gov’t

Economist and Lecturer at the Sunyani Technical University, Mr Osei Kwaku Tuah has said that the government cannot redraw its debt exchange program as protested by the Minority caucus in Parliament led by Hon. Haruna Iddrisu.

According to him, the government does not have enough money to pay its creditors and for this reason, it has initiated this policy to deal with its debts. He said the government can only redraw the policy if it has money to pay its creditors.

Speaking on Opemsuo 6 PM News bulletin yesterday January 16, 2023, Mr Osei Tuah urged both the individual and corporate bondholders to engage the government on the policy to arrive at a considerable decision.

Mr Osei Tuah emphasized that “62% of the government’s revenue is made to take care of its debts and interest draining its covers, hence lacking the ability to repay its creditors”.

As such, “the program has become needful which bondholders should come to negotiate with the gov’t for due process and implementation”.

Mr Osei Kwaku Tuah has said that the government will find it difficult to repay its debts without a solid debt exchange program.

According to him, the government is constantly running out of money to pay its creditors and needs to institute a repayment policy to enable it to avoid defaulting.

Explaining the government’s debt exchange program, Mr Osei Tuah said the program simply seeks to tell the creditors that government has no money to repay them according to the terms and conditions agreed upon earlier and will require more time to do so.

However, Mr Osei Tuah stated that the “debt exchange program has serious negative implications on individual bondholders, the financial and banking sector, the government, and the economy at large if it is not carried out diligently”.

He, therefore, urged the government to carry out the policy with care to get rid of the negative effects such as losing investor confidence specifically.

Source: Opemsuo.com/ Effah Mensah William