Debt exchange: Okoe-Boye shares 'haircut' experience

The Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye, has shared his experience of losing over $30,000 because of the ongoing Domestic Debt Exchange Program.

Speaking during a panel discussion on the Good Morning Ghana programme monitored by GhanaWeb, Okoe-Boye said that he was able to retrieve only $14,000 of a $50,000 investment he made in a private entity.

“Myself, I have been a victim of this financial sector restructuring or clean-up. And if you have felt it before, you have a real-life experience of what it feels like to go through that.

“I put all my per diems when I was in Parliament for 4 years, plus a few dollars I had, totaling $50, 000, in a fund house registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission. My calculation was that since political life was not straight when I am not engaged and I am doing other things, the interest or coupon payment will sustain me.

“…just about 4 or 5 months ago, I got $14,000 out of the $50,000; forget about interest or coupon,” he said.

Dr. Okoe-Boye, a former Member of Parliament for Ledzokuku and deputy health minister, however, noted that challenges in Ghana are not peculiar to the country.

He added that advanced countries such as the UK are even going through worse challenges.

The former MP also said that the current difficulties in Ghana are not due to the inefficiencies of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government alone but also due to exogenous factors and challenges the country has had for decades.

Watch the interview below:



You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV below:



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