Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Parliament’s minority leader, said that the government’s Debt Exchange Programme (DEP) was a significant factor in the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) loss in the general elections of 2024.
In a Saturday, March 15, 2025, interview with Kwaku Sintim-Misa (KSM), Afenyo-Markin said that the governing party had underestimated the degree of popular discontent that would follow the program, which restructured Ghana’s debt in an attempt to salvage the country’s economy.
“We were forced to make the painful decision to implement the Debt Exchange Program. Unfortunately, there was a significant political price for it. He claimed that many Ghanaians, particularly middle-class investors and retirees, felt deceived and expressed their ire at the elections.
In an attempt to get an IMF bailout, the government implemented the DEP in late 2022, which required local bondholders to accept longer payback terms and lower interest rates.
Pensioners and individual bondholders protested the program across the country, demanding exclusions at the Finance Ministry.
Afenyo-Markin said that although the program was required to stabilize the economy, the NPP did not adequately convey its long-term advantages.
Maybe we ought to have done a better job of interacting with the public. He acknowledged that many people viewed it as a punishment rather than an essential step in the process of economic recovery.
In order to restore confidence before the next elections, he demanded an examination of the party’s strategy for public involvement and economic management.
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