The Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, says the debt restructuring programme has been crucial to Ghana’s economic recovery.
He believes that after the 2022 financial crisis, the debt restructuring became a much-needed initiative for the government to restore confidence in the economy.
He said this while presenting the mid-year budget review in Parliament on Tuesday.
He said there has been the “…rapid restoration of macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability; avoidance of steeper fiscal adjustment; creation of fiscal space for development spending; and prevention of a domestic and external banking crisis.”
“We remain committed to exercising caution, informed by the lessons learned from our experiences and the sacrifices of every Ghanaian,” he said.
Dr. Amin Adam praised the government’s debt strategy, which includes deepening reforms to ensure irreversible positive changes.
He also emphasized the focus on building financial buffers to reduce vulnerabilities and enhance resilience against future economic shocks.
“Our debt strategy going forward includes deepening reforms to ensure irreversibility and building buffers to reduce vulnerabilities and enhance resilience,” he said.
In June this year, the Finance Minister announced the completion of Ghana’s debt restructuring programme with its official creditors.
The Member of Parliament for Karaga announced that the government successfully restructured its debt of 5.1 billion dollars with these creditors, in addition to concluding the restructuring of 13.1 billion dollars with Eurobond holders.
“Last two weeks, we concluded negotiations with the official creditors, and we have agreed to restructure 5.1 billion dollars. I am telling you that the government is good in negotiations and of this amount, we are going to make savings of $2 billion.”
“As I speak to you, tomorrow morning, there will be an announcement that we have also concluded our negotiations with the Eurobond Holders of $13.1 billion, and ladies and gentlemen, when we announce it, please read the details. We have negotiated a good deal for Ghana and that is $8 billion,” he said.
“Ideally, government should not be held responsible for the investment decisions of individuals, but this government is so caring.
“Mistakes were made and people were not well-informed, and they didn’t know who to consult to be advised, but we also know that the people who are affected are suffering, and we have heard that some people have died and others had to commit suicide.”
“This government is so caring that in the first place, we granted some bailout to all the affected and I want to tell you again that the President has directed that we do another bailout. So between now and October, we will release ¢1.5 billion to the affected people,” he said.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana