Former President John Dramani Mahama has advocated for the reintroduction of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) to help Africa deal with its rising public debts.
Mr. Mahama says several African countries have reached distress levels hence the need for his appeal to be considered.
“Many African countries, including Ghana have reached debt distressed levels with debt to GDP ratio ranging between 70% and 80%.”
”I am advocating for a reconstitution of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative to offer our countries some fiscal space to make investments in critical states such as education and health.”
He was speaking at the 24th African Business Conference organized by the Harvard Business School.
Established in May 2020, the DSSI helped countries concentrate their resources on fighting the pandemic and safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of millions of the most vulnerable people.
Forty-eight out of 73 eligible countries participated in the initiative before it expired at the end of December 2021.
From May 2020 to December 2021, the initiative suspended $12.9 billion in debt-service payments owed by participating countries to their creditors, according to the latest estimates.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
