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Terkepr cautions that the government cannot maintain the economy solely relying on T-Bills

Ghana’s former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, is urging the government to emphasize responsible debt management and seek alternative funding sources beyond short-term treasury bills. He expressed concern that relying heavily on T-bills for financing poses a risk to the country. These comments were made during a media dialogue on Ghana’s International Monetary Fund program.

“We cannot sustain the economy on treasury bills because treasury bills are for three months. So, at the end of the three months, we must pay”.

“Inadvertently, we are increasing the public debt because we do not have a payment mechanism since the sinking fund is no more.”

He additionally warned the government about the consequences of excluding the nation’s arrears from the overall debt stock.

“The fact that we are doing well may not mean if our primary balance were good at indicating that we were doing well. I can assure you that we would have settled our domestic debt and would have started issuing three-year bonds.”

“The tendency to leave out arrears has hurt us before, and we should be very mindful it doesn’t hurt us again.”he added.

Mr. Terkper recommended the elimination of the Electronic Transaction Levy, noting its inability to fulfill its intended objectives. Instead, he endorsed the adoption of a digitalized tax system by the Ghana Revenue Authority, anticipating increased efficiency and enhanced domestic revenue collection.

The media dialogue, organised by PFM Tax Africa Network, served as a platform for open discussion on national economic issues with media professionals and experts.

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