Not all that glitters is gold – Ato Forson on Ghana’s economic woes

A ranking member of parliament’s finance committee, Cassiel Ato Forson, has bemoaned how sharply Ghana’s story changed from a highly prospective country to one of the struggling economies in the world.

His response was in reaction to a publication by Bloomberg titled “Why Ghana went Hero to Zero for investors.”

Bloomberg said “Ghana, once a beacon of economic stability in Africa, has stopped paying interest on its foreign debt. How did things go so badly wrong?”

“Ghana is learning the hard way why oil can be a blessing and a curse. The onset of commercial crude production helped turn the West African nation into one of the continent’s top investment destinations but also prompted successive governments to borrow to the hilt. Skittish investors offloaded Ghana’s bonds and currency, the cedi, amid doubts over its ability to settle its debts.

“The concern proved to be well-founded: In December, the government caught bondholders by surprise by unilaterally suspending interest payments on its external debt ahead of restructuring talks aimed at pinning down a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund,” it added.

Ato Forson said on December 28, 2022, “The world cannot understand how Ghana has sunk so low! The PR diverted attention from this government’s mismanagement of the economy since 2018! The lesson is obvious: not all that glitters is gold!”

Ghana has announced a debt exchange programme that is calling on domestic bondholders to exchange their bonds for fresh ones with new maturity dates.

The government also suspended debt payments for external debts.
It is however seeking to get financial support from the International Monetary Fund. The government reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF awaiting approval from its board.

The world cannot understand how Ghana has sunk so low!
The PR diverted attention from this govt’s mismanagement of the economy since 2018! The lesson is obvious: not all that glitters is gold! pic.twitter.com/K9fu1zxJNG

— Cassiel Ato Forson(PhD) (@Cassielforson) December 28, 2022