An economist at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS) has attributed domestic creditors' resistance to the Domestic Debt Exchange programme to government's failure to show commitment to burden sharing.

Prof Godfred Bokpin, says government speaks more about burden sharing without action.

"The domestic creditors cannot accept the debt exchange because the government hasn't demonstrated its own commitment to burden sharing, so whiles government talks more about burden sharing, they do less," he said on Monday, January 23, 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdYhLcOWXvY

Buttressing his claim on JoyNews AM Show, Prof Bokpin argued that although government promised to cut down expenditure, it "has actually gone up significantly in the 2023 budget compared to 2022".

Prof Bokpin also cited government's failure to heed calls for its downsizing, saying the measure could be appealing to creditors and thus could engender a sense of togetherness in an approach to the IMF programme.

The lecturer reiterated that since the government has not shown enough commitment to burden sharing, it does not have the moral right to demand same from creditors.

According to him, government's posturing in the wake of the domestic exchange programme is ‘a moral hazard.’

Meanwhile, domestic creditors, particularly, individual bondholders continue to drum home their request to be excluded from the economic recovery programme as some lament the existing economic hardship they continue to suffer.

They continue to resist as a result of what they believe to be insincerity on the part of government in the approach to the exchange programme.

Having extended the deadline of the programme to the 31st of January due to disagreements with stakeholders, economists and political analysts have predicted a further extension as reaching a common ground seems to be far from near.