Professor Godfred Bokpin, an economist and professor of finance at the University of Ghana Business School, is pleading with the government to implement radical fiscal reforms, such as suspending ex-gratia payments until 2040 and reducing the number of appointments, if it wants the debt exchange programme to be a success.
He contends that the government cannot end the financial crisis by unfairly punishing creditors.
Professor Bokpin asserted on the Joy FM Super Morning that if the government manages the debt swap scheme poorly, the banking industry is threatened by low trust and a lack of savings.
"What makes it a little concerning for me is the perception of injustice in the degree of adjustment between fiscal level adjustments, expenditure-based fiscal adjustments, and later restructuring on the side of creditors. Of course, you should include equity fairness within the category of creditors when discussing the kind of creditors. It's illogical if you consider what led us here and how the government is attempting to fix it.
"Unfortunately, you will see from the government's stance that they are hesitant to shoulder their fair share of the load, and once the fiscal side simply does less, the weight will be unfairly passed on creditors.
Since the politicians who caused the disaster are getting away with murder, it looks that the creditors must take a bigger hit instead, Professor Bokpin said.
He demanded that President Akufo-Addo step down if he is unable to run the country with no more than 40 ministries and implement other budgetary reforms.
"I believe that as a nation, we must unite to shape governance and demand the essential reforms. We must urgently request that some ministries be merged and that the number of ministers be reduced. If our President [Akufo-Addo] is unable of carrying out the other changes and running the country with less than forty ministers, he should step down and give Ghana a chance.
He voiced displeasure at the state-owned companies' inaction, which is just increasing the nation's debt.
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