Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, former Finance Minister, had earlier asserted that the NPP government strategically built buffers in Ghana’s Debt Reserves Accounts to ensure the continuous servicing of the country’s debt obligations.
His statement followed President John Dramani Mahama’s directive to Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson to honor the fourth coupon payment to bondholders under the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
While the NPP maintained that the previous government had put in place financial mechanisms to support debt servicing, Kwakye Ofosu strongly refuted this claim during a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
Addressing the media in Accra, Kwakye Ofosu categorically denied the NPP’s assertions, stating that there was no financial buffer left behind by the previous administration to facilitate debt payments.
“Subsequent to the announcement of these payments and the announcement that the sinking fund has been reactivated, we have had some rebuttals from the NPP whose officials have claimed that we have been able to do that as a government only because they left some buffers and that it is not because of any specific intervention from President John Mahama. I wish to place on record that this narrative is untrue,” Kwakye Ofosu stated.
He explained that the sinking fund, also known as the debt service reserve account, is specifically used to hold funds for bondholder payments and other debt obligations.
He mentioned that this account has both cedi and dollar components, with clear statements tracking all transactions over a specific period.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu also challenged the NPP to provide proof of the so-called financial buffers they claim to have left in place.
“For officials of the former government to be able to say that these payments and honoring of these obligations have been the outcome of work they did, they need to point specifically where those buffers were located,” he argued.
He further revealed that the last recorded transaction under the NPP administration in the debt reserve account was on October 22, 2024, with a balance of only $64,387, an amount far from sufficient to cover payments totaling GH¢6 billion.
He reiterated that the government remains committed to sound financial management and ensuring that debt payments are met without relying on misleading narratives.
In contrast, he also noted that on January 31, 2025, the NDC government, under Minister of Finance Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson deposited $96,915,182 into the account.
Similarly, in the cedi-denominated reserve account, Kwakye Fosu said the last transaction before the NPP left office occurred on January 2, 2025, with a balance of GH¢155,463,435.
He pointed out that under the NDC administration, an additional GH¢9 billion has been secured, bringing the total fund to GH¢15 billion, an amount earmarked for servicing maturing coupons in July and August.
