Former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, has urged the government to prioritize responsible debt management and seek alternative funding sources beyond short-term treasury bills.

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He expressed concern that the country is at risk by heavily relying on T-bills for financing. Terkper made these comments during a media dialogue on Ghana's International Monetary Fund program.

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“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”.

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

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He also warned the government about the consequences of not including the nation's arrears as part of the total debt stock.

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“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.”

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

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Mr. Terkper called for the abolition of the Electronic Transaction Levy, arguing that it has failed to achieve its intended goals. He expressed stronger support for the implementation of a digitalized tax system by the Ghana Revenue Authority, believing it would enhance efficiency and increase domestic revenue collection.

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The media dialogue, organized by PFM Tax Africa Network, provided a platform for open discussions on national economic issues with media professionals and experts.

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