4 more debt instruments government is seeking to restructure after DDEP

There are four more domestic debt instruments the government is seeking to restructure following the successful completion of the domestic debt exchange programme.

The Minister for Finance Ken Ofori-Atta, stated that in order to complete the debt operations the government announced a second debt restructuring for some of the debt instruments that were initially excluded from the DDEP.

These four are Energy Sector Independent Power Producers (IPPs); Cocoa bills; Local US dollar-denominated bonds; and the Bank of Ghana's non-tradable debt.

Government launched debt operations for the Cocobills and local US dollar-denominated bonds on July 14, 2023.

The settlement date is July 5, 2023.

On December 5, 2022, the government launched the DDEP in a transparent manner while seeking to minimize its impact on bondholders.

After three (3) months of negotiations with the different bondholder groups and amendments to the original terms, the government successfully completed the DDEP on February 14.

Total bonds outstanding at the settlement date amounted to GH¢126,978.5 million, out of which GH¢29,286.2 million were held by Pension Funds, bringing the total eligible bonds to GH¢97,749.6 million.

The ministry received final participation of GH¢82,994.5 million, representing 84.9 percent of total eligible bonds.

Ofori-Atta said: “The DDEP has provided the Government with increased fiscal flexibility and addressed cash and other liquidity constraints. Once again, we are grateful to all investors who participated in this exchange.”

SSD/DA