Need to Correct Misconception About HIPC

The mind set of a large section of the nation seems to have been prejudiced, unfairly, about the effects that Ghana opting for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative will have on her economy.

In fact, most people think that the government's move is a folly.

Such is the negative perception about HIPC that inferior goods on the market are called HIPC; poor people are laughed at as having been stricken by HIPC and even people shirking their parental responsibilities try to justify it with the excuse that they are heavily indebted poor parents.

The junction near the Tetteh Quashie roundabout which leads to the private home of President Kufuor has been christened HIPC junction by mockers who impute that by opting for HIPC, the head of government had brought untold economic hardships on Ghanaians.

But the Chronicle wonders whether the full import of the decision the Kufuor government took early last year has been brought home to the ordinary Ghanaian.

This we do in the light of emerging evidence that HIPC will not necessarily make Ghana poorer, but could actually enhance our development.

For example, the fallacy in the warning that opting for HIPC would dry up Ghana's sources of loans and other forms of assistance was exposed on Wednesday evening at the close of the 11th Consultative Meeting.

The donor community pledged a total of $1 billion to support Ghana's economy, an amount which, in reality, exceeds the $1.5 billion the same group pledged to give us in 1999 when we had not gone HIPC. This is so because that amount was meant for a period of two years.

As Peter Harrold, the country director of the World Bank, explained "now you get commitment which has increased by the amount of debt relief" for opting for HIPC. And that is $250 million for this year alone.

Even Japan which had long made its position clear that it would give no debtor more loans after debt relief, has decided to offer substantial grants to Ghana for the construction of the Accra-Yamoransa road, and improvement in health delivery, science education and provision of water.

This is in spite of the fact that Japan, being the second largest provider of debt relief to Ghana, had forgiven Ghana a total of $700 million debt.

Following from these are the clear assurances that in spite of opting for HIPC, Ghana can still count on the financial support of her development partners, provided her open governance, rule of law and prudent use of resources remain on course.

The Chronicle, therefore, calls on the authorities to redouble their efforts at explaining the merits and demerits of HIPC to the citizenry to be able to galvanise their support in using the initiative and its benefits to develop the country.

Nothing can be more dangerous than to have a nation carrying misconceptions about HIPC when in reality it can push Ghana forward.

The psyche needs re-shaping!