Ghana’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme: Perspectives From a Sociological Lens

Abstract

In recent years, Ghana has grappled with significant economic challenges, prompting the implementation of various financial strategies aimed at stabilizing the domestic economy. One such strategy is the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), designed to address the nation’s fiscal deficits and high debt levels.

This paper seeks to discuss the debt impact of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme on the domestic economy of Ghana while highlighting the program’s unintended consequences, which may inadvertently impede development. The paper seeks to expose the mechanisms of exploitation that are hidden in the DDEP, but on the contrary, do harm and an impediment to development. The paper establishes that the DDEP exacerbates the sickness in the domestic economy of high interest rates, and eroded farm gate prices and hence also affects the health of democracy. The paper therefore calls for a rethinking of debt management in consonance with the demands of the Ghana Beyond Aid Agenda. The paper also calls for changes in the modus operandi of the programme such as the stoppage of nationwide auctioning of DDEP related treasury bills and the tapering of the spread between the Bank of Ghana’s treasury bills and those of the DDEP. The paper concludes by commending countries adopting the DDEP instrument for undertaking this daring journey towards economic emancipation and assuring that success is realizable.