Isaac Adongo, a member of parliament for Bolgatanga Central, argued that while necessary, the government is not adequately pursuing the present debt restructuring.
He asserts that the US$3 billion in assistance Ghana is requesting from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be significantly outweighed by investor capital destroyed by the local debt restructuring program outlined by Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta.
“We cannot ruin more than US$100 billion of Ghanaian resources in the quest for US$3 billion from the IMF; that will not happen.
And I want to issue a caution that the Bank of Ghana is not their friend, warning investors, banks, pension funds, and fund managers, he remarked on December 7 during a news conference in Parliament.
He stressed that other regulatory bodies like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Pensions Regulatory Commission (NPRA) and the National Insurance Commission (NIC) were all in bed in with government to destroy shareholders’ resources.
He stated further that the Minority in Parliament was urging stakeholders to rise up and seek to reclaim their positions and their investments.
“We agree that Ghana needs restructuring but not an illegal, unilateral and arrogant misappropriation of people’s resources. This is the time to call on those activist investment lawyers, those vigilante lawyers to step up and claim their place in the fight to rescue this country,” he stressed.
Ghana is currently facing economic headwinds with a domestic debt programme facing opposition from stakeholders – largely from institutional bondholders.
Government is hoping to close a deal on debt restructuring at home in order to be able to access an International Monetary Fund, IMF, facility to support the failing economy.