Government’s deadline for bondholders to sign on to the Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) Programme expires on Tuesday, February 7, 2023.
The government for the fourth time extended the deadline for the Programme from January 31 to February 7, 2023, introducing new terms to further engage with stakeholders.
Individual bondholders under the age of 59 will be offered instruments with a maximum maturity of five years, rather than 15 years, and a 10% coupon rate under the new terms, while retirees, including those retiring in 2023, will be offered instruments with a maximum maturity of five years, rather than 15 years, and a 15% coupon rate.
Government is hoping for an 80% subscription to the programme as it structures domestic debt to achieve 55% debt-to-GDP ratio by 2028, as part of efforts to secure a 3 billion dollar bailout from the IMF.
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that, despite some stakeholders’ initial resistance to the Domestic Debt Exchange programme, the government is gradually gaining the support of all.
Speaking at a meeting with the visiting German Finance Minister, Christian Lindner, the president stated that if the program is implemented successfully, Ghana will receive balance-of-payments support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by March 2023.
“One of the steps in the domestic debt exchange is, unfortunately, facing some difficulties, so it has not been concluded. As quickly as possible we are looking at the committee to ensure that all the stakeholders are well engaged”, he said.
Meanwhile,objecting to the inclusion in the government’s domestic debt exchange program are the groups of Individual bondholders.
Organized labour on Wednesday, February 1, also reiterated its resistance against the government’s domestic debt exchange programme and assured that any attempts to repackage the programme to include pension funds will be fiercely rejected.
