Acting upon Kennedy Ohene Agyapong Member of Parliament (MP) for the Assin North and Kwaku Kwateng Member of Parliament (MP) for Obuasi East Constituencies advice, finally the finance Minister has apologized to Ghanaians on behalf of the ruling Government’s for subjecting Ghanaian to economic hardship as a results of the debt exchange program the government introduced as a condition for International Monitory Fund (IMF) credit facility.
Kennedy Agyapong over the weekend join the New Patriotic Party member in Ablekuma South Constituency to launch election campaign.
Speaking at the event, Kennedy Agyapong emphasised the need for unity to ensure the party’s victory in the December 7 polls.
“Let’s go out there with humility, apologise to Ghanaians, and admit your mistakes before you can convince anybody to vote for you. If we ignore the hardships Ghanaians are going through, they will never accept what we are saying.
“You first have to admit that there are hardships, let’s give NPP another chance, and I know we have all learnt our lessons.
“We are all not going to sit back, we will all support Dr Bawumia [NPP flagbearer] to win,” Kennedy Agyapong advised.
A day later Minister of finance apologised to Ghanaians for the hardships they are experiencing due to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
During a town hall meeting in Accra on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, Dr Amin Adam explained that the DDEP was a requirement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), necessitating its implementation.
According to him, it was never the government’s intention to impose hardships on Ghanaians. He emphasised the importance of debt restructuring for the economy and expressed appreciation to Ghanaians for their support.
“We decided to restructure our debts because it was one of the requirements by the IMF. We started with the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, the DDEP was a very successful programme, achieving 95% participation. And on this note, I would like to appeal to the people of Ghana to forgive us, forgive us.
“It is never the intention of any government to impose hardships on its people. More so, the NPP government has demonstrated that we want to reduce the burden on the Ghanaian people.
“It was a necessary, very important decision at the time, that if we had avoided it, our economy would not recover as it has recovered today. The decisions we made, and all the support you gave us during the DDEP have contributed largely to the recovery our economy is seeing today.
“This is why I want to appeal to you to forgive us. But also to thank you on behalf of the president for the sacrifices, for the efforts that you all have made participating in the DDEP that saved our economy,” the Finance Minister said.
The domestic debt exchange programme was part of the government’s efforts to reduce its debt burden and improve its debt sustainability.
Source: Kumasimail.com
