Forgive Gov’t for the Hardship- Finance Minister

The Minister for Finance, Hon Mohammed Amin Adam has apologized to Ghanaians for the economic hardship and difficulties caused by the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

At a town hall meeting on August 6, 2024, the Minister explained that the programme was critical for the survival of the country’s economy.

According to him, no government will impose an undesirable programme without a cause and therefore pleaded for forgiveness.

“The domestic debt exchange programme was a very successful programme, achieving 90% participation. On this note, I would like to appeal to the people of Ghana to forgive us. Forgive us. Forgive us. It is never the intention of any government to impose hardship on its people.

“It was a very important and necessary decision at the time that if we avoided it, our economy would not recover such as it has recovered today.”

He used the occasion to express appreciation on behalf of government to Ghanaians for their cooperation.

“But also to thank you, the people of Ghana on behalf of the President for the sacrifices, the effort that you all have made in participating in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme that saved our economy so I thank you very much for that support that you gave to the government.”

DDEP
On December 5, 2022, former Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta announced the programme that will transition the country to debt-sustainable levels as part of efforts to enrol on an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

He noted that 137 billion of the country’s domestic debt needed to be restructured to get the country’s debt at a sustainable level.

Under the Programme, domestic bondholders were asked to exchange their instruments for new ones.

This was opposed by a section of Ghanaians.