Finance Minister apologises for economic hardships due to Debt Exchange Programme
The Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has apologised to Ghanaians for the economic difficulties resulting from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Accra on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, Dr. Amin Adam explained that the DDEP was a necessary requirement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and emphasised that it was not the government’s intention to impose hardships on the populace.
He highlighted the importance of debt restructuring for the country’s economic recovery and expressed gratitude to Ghanaians for their support.
“We decided to restructure our debts because it was one of the requirements by the IMF. We started with the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, the DDEP was a very successful programme, achieving 95% participation. And on this note, I would like to appeal to the people of Ghana to forgive us, forgive us,” Dr. Amin Adam stated.
“It is never the intention of any government to impose hardships on its people. More so, the NPP government has demonstrated that we want to reduce the burden on the Ghanaian people. It was a necessary, very important decision at the time, that if we had avoided it, our economy would not recover as it has recovered today. The decisions we made, and all the support you gave us during the DDEP have contributed largely to the recovery our economy is seeing today.
“This is why I want to appeal to you to forgive us. But also to thank you on behalf of the president for the sacrifices, for the efforts that you all have made participating in the DDEP that saved our economy,” the Finance Minister said.