Place Free SHS on hold till the economy improves – Terkper

A former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, has urged the Akufo-Addo government to rethink the model of the Free Senior High School policy and some capital-intensive projects in view of the current economic crisis.

Speaking on Masem News on Tuesday, Mr Terkper said it will be prudent for the government to suspend some projects for a year to allow the economy to pick up before those projects are revived.

“I am going to use the Free SHS, unfettered free SHS, I am free to say it because in 2017 I tweeted and said unfettered free SHS was attractive but cannot be achieved. Ghana cannot do unfettered free SHS,” Mr Terkper told host Umaru Sanda Amadu.

He added that “If we have a project which we have signed to complete in three years I think we can suspend it for one year until we improve the situation…for instance some roads or some hospitals.”

Mr Terkper’s comments come on the back of the government’s staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion extended credit facility to help revive the economy.

The government as part of measures to rescue the ailing economy has also announced a debt exchange programme for domestic bondholders and a suspension of payments for external bondholders.

The IMF has said a comprehensive debt restructuring is a condition of its support.

The country has been struggling to refinance its debt since the start of the year after downgrades by multiple credit rating agencies on concerns it would not be able to issue new Eurobonds.