Dean of Business School at the University of Cape Coast, Professor John Gatsi, has opined that the announcement of a debt exchange programme government indicates its failure to properly steer the affairs of the economy.

In his view, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) was voted into power to deflate the country's high debt but the problem, since they took office remains unsolved.

Professor Gatsi stated that the debt exchange programme rolled out by government will cause more harm than good to Ghanaians amidst the current economic crisis.

Speaking on TV3's Ghana Tonight programme on Monday, December 5, 2022, he said, “If the Finance Minister is saying because of that we need to do something, then that is an admission of failure.”

“We voted them to power to solve this problem and this problem has not been solved and that is failure on the part of government and to use this draconian approach to deal with this issue, I am sure it will do more harm than good,” he added.

Government on Monday, December 5, 2022, rolled out a debt restructuring programme to restore its capacity to service its high-rising debt.

Under this programme, all domestic bondholders have been charged to exchange their instruments for new ones.

Existing domestic bonds as of December 1, 2022, will be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, and 2037.

The annual coupons on all of these bonds will be set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024 and 10% from 2025 until maturity.

ESA/FNOQ