The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has added its voice to calls on government to take steps to find solutions that are less burdensome on Ghanaians including the proposed domestic debt restructuring programme which the Bishops described as lacking consensus.
“We are troubled that the position so far adopted by government lacks consensus, resulting in the strong reactions witnessed in the recent past,” the Catholic Bishops stated in a press release on January 27, 2023.
Signed by its President, the Most Rev. Matthew Gyamfi, the release said “We wish to observe however that, the far-reaching consequences of the proposed domestic debt restructuring programme on the financial sector (banks and insurance companies in particular), and the cascading implications on individual holders of government instruments, once believed to be the safest investments, are too damaging, not only for investors but also their effects on the bargaining power of households and on the poor.”
The Bishops said, they have been following with keen interest and concern, recent happenings in the country on the economic front and its impact on Ghanaians and according to them, the strong resistance to the debt restructuring from domestic resources to meet the IMF bailout conditions is a natural response from those directly or indirectly affected.
“The options for government to resolve the economic crisis appear limited,” the Bishops noted, adding “We therefore hold the position that, given the issues that have arisen with government’s resort to an IMF ballout, and the mistrust it has garnered, does not make the domestic debt restructuring option appear viable.”
“Urgent situations call for urgent actions,” said the Bishops, calling on government to consider involving all stakeholders, particularly individual and financial institutions directly affected, and carry them along in addressing the problem.
They urged government to vigorously pursue some debt forgiveness and/or deferment, where feasible so that if at all, the domestic debt restructuring burden could be reduced drastically and its impact on stakeholders minimised.
To win the international community over in pursuit of this, the Bishops were of the view that government must present a posture that is consistent with the fact that the country is in dire straits or crisis.
These, according to them, should include but certainly not limited to avoiding the reported expected expenditure overruns in the 2023 Budget; drastic government expenditure control by reducing the number of government appointees; suspending non-essential projects; and a review of the free SHS policy.
“While we expect government to consider these suggestions, we humbly appeal to Ghanaians to appreciate the current economic situation and understand that there will be difficulties in the coming months while the problem is solved permanently,” the press release added.
It is the hope of the Bishops that the suggestions would help in no small way to alleviate the pressure on domestic revenue generation challenges with the IMF bailout condition, if it has to be continued.
