Deputy Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, Isaac Adongo, says nothing concrete has been achieved yet, following government’s announcement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) $3 billion deal.
The legislator for Bolgatanga Central Constituency said, the government can only be excited about the IMF deal on Staff-Level Agreement if the relevant stakeholders/bondholders agree to sign up for the Debt Exchange Programme.
Some stakeholders such as the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNMA), Ghana Medical Association (GMA), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana Securities Industry Association (GSIA), amongst others, had kicked against the move by government to touch their pension funds.
Reacting to the IMF deal on Eyewitness News, Mr. Adongo said, the difficult part is not the pronouncements by the government on the deal, but achieving debt sustainability is the most important thing.
Isaac Adongo said, “nothing has been achieved on the Debt Exchange Programme. This is nothing more than an outline of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU is saying that we do agree that given your circumstances, you need to get debt sustainability, and that has not been achieved”.
He observed that no Ghanaian has signed up for the Debt Exchange Programme, advising the government to work hard to get all stakeholders to sign up for the programme.
“To date, not even a single bondholder has signed to the Debt Exchange Programme, so there’s really nothing that has been achieved on Debt Exchange Programme. Nothing concrete has been achieved. The most difficult part is how we get Ghanaians and non-resident holders to sign up for government’s policy on the Debt Exchange programme.
“The banks are quietly disagreeing, Ghana Securities Industry Association say they disagree and won’t sign up to the programme in its current form, Trade Unions are saying that their pensions are already perilously low, and so they don’t want to further aggravate the pensions difficulties of their workers, and so they disagree”.
He said government should ensure that the debt sustainability is achieved in a way acceptable to both government and stakeholders.
“The difficult part is not the pronouncements that we agree to achieve debt sustainability, but how do you achieve debt sustainability in a way that stakeholders are able to work in path with you, a policy acceptable by both parties. That’s the most difficult part government must deal with,” Mr. Adongo said.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta at a joint press conference with the IMF officials on December 13, 2023, said, “against the backdrop of Staff Programmes, Ghana is indeed blessed to conclude our Staff Level Agreement within 5 months. This is historic in recent times relative to what we witnessed with Zambia, Chad and Ethiopia”.
The Minister added, “Ghana stands ready to complete all Prior Actions before the end-March 2023 but more importantly, Ghana is committed to the IMF Programme as a whole. The SLA is only one aspect of the approval process. More is yet to be done to secure IMF Management and Board approval. We hope that Ghanaians will continue to support all efforts to restore macroeconomic stability and promote robust and inclusive growth”.
“We are confident as a resilient people, and we shall rally to support this great enterprise, to restore macroeconomic stability and promote robust and inclusive growth. The world is looking at us, and I know we can do it,” Mr. Ofori-Atta stressed.