‘We’ve failed’ – Haruna Iddrisu says parliament has contributed to Ghana’s economic crisis
The minority caucus in parliament has said that the legislature is partly to blame for Ghana’s current economic crisis and that they have let Ghanaians down.
Haruna Iddrisu, a lawmaker from Tamale South and the Minority Leader, said that the legislature hasn’t kept a close enough eye on the government’s borrowing, which is why the country’s debt is so high.
Ghana’s debt has grown to more than 100% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and the government says it can’t pay.
Because of this, the government is currently working on debt restructuring and debt exchange programs to prepare for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.
Haruna Iddrisu said that Parliament hasn’t done its job of protecting the public interest.
She said this at a dialogue with Parliament’s top leaders and some of its committees that was set up by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
He backed up the widely held belief that the legislature has become a rubber stamp that approves everything the executive branch brings to the house without looking into it.
“Parliament can no longer protect the interests of the people. So how did we get here? Why didn’t we see this coming? The terms and conditions of the loan can only be changed by the Parliament.
So, if we’ve spent more than 100% of GDP, how did that happen?” Haruna Iddrisu was said to have said this by citinewsroom.com.
At the same event, the Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said that Ghana’s debt stock has gone down by about 40 billion cedis due to the Ghana Cedi’s recovery after months of falling against the dollar and other major trading currencies.
“You know that the debt stock has gone down even though nothing has been done. This is because the cedi has gone up in value.”
It has gone down by close to $40 billion, and it will go down even more if the cedi keeps getting stronger against the dollar, as he was quoted as saying.
The government, which is run by the New Patriotic Party and is led by Akufo-Addo, is having trouble getting both foreign and domestic investors to agree to its debt exchange program.
It is part of Ghana’s efforts to restructure its debt as the country prepares to get a longer loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
As a key part of talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get $3 billion to help Ghana’s economy, the government is exchanging bonds that have already been sold for new ones with a more flexible interest payment plan.
Under the policy, people who own domestic bonds will have to trade them in for new ones.
On Thursday, December 1, existing domestic bonds will be swapped for a set of four new bonds that will be paid off in 2027, 2029, 2032, and 2037.
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