Government extends deadline for Debt Exchange Programme to January 31

Government has extended the deadline for the expiration of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) to January 31, 2023.

This would be the third extension since the programme was launched on December 5, 2022.

In a tweet sighted by GhanaWeb Business, the Ministry of Finance noted that the extension was due to pending further stakeholder engagements with institutional and individual investors who were recently invited to join the debt exchange programme.

“Building consensus is key to a successful economic recovery for Ghana,” a tweet from the Finance Minister’s office said.

As part of efforts to secure an IMF bailout and address the country’s unsustainable debt situation, government launched the DDEP inviting bondholders to voluntarily exchange approximately GH¢137 billion domestic notes and bonds of the Republic including ESLA and Daakye for a package of new bonds.

In the wake of this, various groups of bondholders in the financial sector have called on their members to reject government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme due to a lack of broader consultations and negotiations.

Building consensus is key to a successful economic recovery for Ghana. Pending further stakeholder engagement with institutional and individual investors, recently invited to join the debt exchange programme, government is extending the expiration of the DDE to Jan 31, 2023.

— Office of the Finance Minister-Ghana (@oofmghana) January 16, 2023