Former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, has urged the government to prioritize responsible debt management and seek alternative funding sources beyond short-term treasury bills.
He expressed concern that the country is at risk by heavily relying on T-bills for financing. Terkper made these comments during a media dialogue on Ghana’s International Monetary Fund program.
“We cannot sustain the economy on treasury bills because treasury bills are for three months. So, at the end of the three months, we must pay”.
“Inadvertently, we are increasing the public debt because we do not have a payment mechanism since the sinking fund is no more.”
He also warned the government about the consequences of not including the nation’s arrears as part of the total debt stock.
“The fact that we are doing well may not mean if our primary balance were good at indicating that we were doing well. I can assure you that we would have settled our domestic debt and would have started issuing three-year bonds.”
He added that” the tendency to leave out arrears has hurt us before, and we should be very mindful it doesn’t hurt us again.”
Mr. Terkper called for the abolition of the Electronic Transaction Levy, arguing that it has failed to achieve its intended goals. He expressed stronger support for the implementation of a digitalized tax system by the Ghana Revenue Authority, believing it would enhance efficiency and increase domestic revenue collection.
The media dialogue, organized by PFM Tax Africa Network, provided a platform for open discussions on national economic issues with media professionals and experts.