Parliament Grills Ofori-Atta On Debt Exchange

THE BUSINESS Committee of Parliament, pursuant to a directive by the Speaker, has programmed the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta to present a policy brief on the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) on Thursday.

Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who disclosed this, said the leadership, after an engagement with the Finance Minister, realised that the Tuesday schedule could not be possible.

He was presenting the Business Statement for the second week ending Friday, February 17, 2023.

According to him, the minister indicated that he had committed to an earlier engagement on behalf of the government on the said Tuesday, and has, therefore, agreed to attend upon the House for the policy brief on Thursday, February 16, 2023.

Speaker Alban Bagbin last week directed the Business Committee of the House to summon the Finance Minister to brief Parliament on the ongoing government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, after some members of the Minority demanded to know the policy details of the DDEP.

“Parliament is ever prepared to assist [the] government to get out of this quagmire. So, what I can say now is that Parliament has spoken and that is the end of it. The Minister must be scheduled by the Business Committee as early as possible because this is an urgent matter because the pensioners are picketing at the Ministry,” the Speaker said.

Parliamentary Democracy

Meanwhile, Parliament has earmarked a number of activities throughout the year to mark 30 years of parliamentary democracy since the inception of the Fourth Republic.

Mr. Afenyo-Markin said the official launch of the 30 years of parliamentary democracy is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9:00 am.

Source: dailyguidenetwork.com