Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a private legal practitioner has expressed his thoughts on basis of which individual bondholders must agree to the debt restructuring offer from the government.
The Ghanaian economic state could crash if the bondholders do not agree to the offers made known by the Ministry of Finance, according to him.
In his recent posts, he cautioned against the hesitations associated with the offer and advised the bondholders to play their part in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
“Ghana is in a very difficult place. What we are seeing with the mobilization of agitation on individual bondholders poses a real and serious risk worse than what we witnessed when opposition to E-levy succeeded in derailing an already shaky macroeconomic situation from 2021,” he tweeted.
“The debt exchange programme is voluntary for individual bondholders but a very necessary evil for our economy.
“Its success is critical to restoring macroeconomic stability, securing an IMF prog. It hits those of us holding bonds very hard. A straight no to it is no solution!.
“If the no-compromise opposition to it wins, what then has been achieved? It may lead to national debt default.
“So what then happens to the value of your bonds after! Potentially worthless. If participation is low, we jeopardize resolving the economic crisis and hardships,” he added.
He summarized his tweets by making it known to Ghanaians that the economic state of the country is not in good shape and that certain harsh measures must be taken to put it in place.
“I’m sorry but we have to face the hard/painful truths. We ain’t sitting pretty. Our focus must be on how the burden to individual bondholders may be possibly eased; but not to take the hardline position of simply saying no to participation. It will come back to hit us harder!.”
However, the invitation to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) expires today, Monday, January 16, 2023 at 4:00pm.
This happens after two extensions from the elapsed date by the Finance Ministry.
The decision to involve individual bondholders became necessary after the government was pushed by labour unions to abandon plans to include pensions in the debt exchange programme which was officially introduced in December 2022.
