The revised deadline for the domestic debt swap scheme won't be fulfilled, according to economist Dr. Theo Acheampong.
This comes after a declaration made by the Ministry of Finance on January 16th.
Since it was first announced, the program's deadline has been postponed three times due to significant resistance from several parties, including individual bondholders who claim the government failed to consult them before enrolling them in the scheme.
They want the government to take a very active role in finding a mutually agreeable solution.
Speaking on PM Express, Dr. Theo Acheampong said that finding a cooperative solution would not be possible for some time given the government's top-down approach to managing the program.
"Currently, in my opinion, the process has been botched because of the government's sort of 'I know it all' approach, wherein a lot of the things were pretty much thrown at the people who are affected, instead of engaging and consulting broadly with them.
"And we're talking about people's money and livelihoods here. There would thus always be strong opposition to it. But instead of trying to impose the entire thing as a take-it-or-leave-it choice, the people wanted to see the government truly interact openly and candidly. And that's actually where we currently have a lot of difficulties, he continued.
The deadline of January 31st will not be fulfilled, he stated, since there is still more work to be done before the government's debt swap scheme can be deemed feasible and sustainable.
"I don't believe that the new deadline of January 31st will be fulfilled since there are many strongholds in this place. Fundamentally speaking, this indicates, in my opinion, that even by 2028, the debt-to-GDP ratio of 55% will not be manageable.
"Since you're talking about needing to cut your debt threshold by half within around 4 years, and that will inflict significant hardship on the people of Ghana, we might really have to go back and revise those calculations.
So perhaps it's time to start over and see if we can't instead gradually reduce these debt measurements and indicators over probably eight to ten years, he said.
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