{"id":37506,"date":"2023-03-18T15:28:31","date_gmt":"2023-03-18T15:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/?p=37506"},"modified":"2023-03-18T15:31:04","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T15:31:04","slug":"iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals","title":{"rendered":"IEA says Ghana\u2019s debt level frustrating businesses, individuals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Ghana. <\/strong><\/span>The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a public policy think-tank, has described Ghana\u2019s current debt, which is being restructured, as \u201cdisheartening and frustrating\u201d, to businesses and individuals.<\/b><\/p>\n

As a result, the Institute has advised that the Government take action to swiftly conclude the debt restructuring process to secure the US$3 billion loan-support programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).<\/p>\n

The Government is optimistic about Ghana reaching the IMF deal by the close of March 2023, but IEA said it was worried about the country banking its hope on the IMF loan-support programme to achieve debt sustainability in five-years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it is disheartening to some of us that our debt even got to this level in the first place, and it is also frustrating that it will take a further five years before we can bring it down to the current levels of our peers,\u201d said, Dr John Kwakye, Director of Research at IEA.<\/p>\n

He added that: \u201cWe risk the usual post-IMF programme fiscal relapse, especially as 2024 is just around the corner and given our history of election-driven fiscal profligacy and its destabilising consequences,\u201d Dr Kwakye said.<\/p>\n

He said this during a reflection on the State of the Nation Address (SONA), which was delivered by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last week.<\/p>\n

He praised the Government for the economic growth, inflation and exchange rate prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, but said underlying weaknesses had contributed to the current economic crisis, which had made the Government seek for an IMF assistance.<\/p>\n

Ghana last year, reached a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) for the loan-support programme, which is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while protecting the vulnerable, preserving financial stability.<\/p>\n

It is, however, subject to an assurance of debt sustainability from both domestic and foreign creditors, as the Government race against time to reduce the debt-to- Gross Domestic Product (GDP), from 103 per cent to 55 per cent.<\/p>\n

Dr Kwakye advised the government to take note of the beneficial lessons from its West African neighbor, Cote D\u2019Ivoire, on its sustainability efforts, which had led to a debt to GDP ratio of 56 per cent \u2013 lower than the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 55.5 per cent.<\/p>\n

The lessons included Cote D\u2019Ivoire\u2019s strict convergence criteria of three per cent for its fiscal deficit, restricted lending to Government, and subjecting itself to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) debt-to-GDP ceiling of 60 per cent.<\/p>\n

In the case of Ghana, there is a ceiling of five per cent for the fiscal deficit, subject to variation by the Minister of Finance when it deems it necessary, and no ceiling on debt-to-GDP, in addition to a five per cent lending by the Bank of Ghana to the Government on previous year\u2019s revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is notable that despite the often-proffered view that Ghana may sacrifice growth if we target much lower rates of inflation, Cote D\u2019Ivoire has consistently achieved simultaneous low inflation and growth. We can learn from them,\u201d Dr Kwakye said.<\/p>\n

On the IMF loan-support programme, Dr Kwakye said, it would bring some temporary relief on terms of the direct financing and catalyse the flow of funds from other donors, as the capital market was currently closed to Ghana.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make a difference, it is important that we take our economic destiny into our own hands \u2013 and not mortgage it to Washington,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He encouraged the country to develop a culture of fiscal and financial discipline and pursue transformational policies capable of changing the structure of the economy into an export-oriented one to produce sufficient import substitutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to leverage our internal resources and capacities to develop our economy and permanently position it beyond aid and debt. These are not things that are beyond our capabilities and reach,\u201d the IEA Director of Research, said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Ghana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Ghana. The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a public policy think-tank, has described Ghana\u2019s current debt, which is being restructured, as \u201cdisheartening and frustrating\u201d, to businesses and individuals. As a result, the Institute has advised that the Government take action to swiftly conclude the debt restructuring process to secure the US$3 billion loan-support […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":37505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[5092,5096,429],"class_list":["post-37506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-ghana","tag-ghana"],"yoast_head":"\nIEA says Ghana\u2019s debt level frustrating businesses, individuals - Ghana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a public policy think-tank, has described Ghana\u2019s current debt, which is bei ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IEA says Ghana\u2019s debt level frustrating businesses, individuals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a public policy think-tank, has described Ghana\u2019s current debt, which is bei ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-18T15:28:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-18T15:31:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/sites\/18\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679138941.42.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"840\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"IEA says Ghana\u2019s debt level frustrating businesses, individuals\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-18T15:28:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-18T15:31:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals\"},\"wordCount\":654,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/sites\/18\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1679138941.42.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Ghana\",\"ghana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/iea-says-ghanas-debt-level-frustrating-businesses-individuals\",\"name\":\"IEA says Ghana\u2019s debt level frustrating businesses, individuals - 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