IMF bailout in danger because of failure of DDEP – Dr Ato Forson

Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, has said that Ghana is in danger of not getting a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within the stipulated timeline.

According to him, the $3 billion bailout is at risk because of the government’s failure to finalise its Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), myjoyonline.com reports.

He added that the DDEP is an essential measure that the government must get done to prove to the IMF that its debt is sustainable.

“I can confidently see clearly that Ghana will not be in a position to get an IMF programme in the first quarter due to what is happening [mass rejection of the DDEP].

“Where are the sufficient steps? They have not. We are nowhere near the sufficient steps,” Dr Ato Forson, the Member of Parliament for Ajumako Enyan Esiam, is quoted to have said on JoyNews’ The Pulse.

He explained that Ghanaians are not accepting the government’s DDEP because it failed to engage the stakeholders involved.

He added that the failure of the government to engage stakeholders in its DDEP is consistent with its behaviour of neglecting the voice of Ghanaians on important matters.

“We have seen a president and a government that since they announced the IMF programme, no proper engagement has been done and as a result, we are seeing the outcome. So where do we get those sufficient assurances?” he asked.

Meanwhile, the invitation to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme has been extended for the third time to January 31, 2023.

This comes after the second extension by the Finance Ministry expired on Monday, January 16, 2023.

The decision to include individual bondholders was necessitated after the government was forced by labour unions to abandon plans to include pensions in the debt exchange programme which was first announced in December 2022.



IB/DA