Exempt pensioners from DDEP – CPP to govt

Some political parties in the country are calling on the government to suspend the ongoing Domestic Debt Exchange Programme and find alternative measures of resolving the current economic crisis. 

According to them, it is insensitive for the government to burden investors, while the government refuses to make any fiscal adjustments.

Ghana’s total public debt stock shot up to GH¢575.7 billion at the end of November 2022, according to new data released by the Bank of Ghana.

The new debt figure brings Ghana’s debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio to 93.5% from 75.9% in September 2022.

The government is embarking on a debt restructuring programme in order to enable it to access a $3 billion dollar package from the IMF to end the country’s ongoing economic woes.

Speaking to Citi News, the political affairs chairman of the Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP), Kwame Jantuah said the president must exempt the pensioners from the DDE.

“All the political parties stand against it, even the NPP they are not talking about it, it’s only Ken Ofori-Atta and the President, Nana Akufo-Add talking about it. It seems everybody is scared. Those within their party can’t even say much, why is it only one-sided? Why is the economic management team silent on the subject?

“I would wish the President would say look, let’s exempt the pensioner bondholders from the DDEP and let’s find an alternative. Parliament should take over and find out which projects should be cut off or suspended,” Mr Jantuah stated.

The General Secretary of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Alhaji Frimpong noted that the government must be transparent about what the loans were used for.

“What is happening in our national discourse over DDEP is as a result of what I would say the people being kept in the dark over a lot of issues in governance. Bondholders are agitating because the sender-messenger relationship is not properly done, people don’t know so much about what is going on,” Alhaji Frimpong indicated.