Government to launch external debt restructuring offer in coming days
Finance Minister Dr Mohammed Amin Adam has announced that the government, in the coming days, will launch an exchange offer to bondholders, marking a critical step in the external debt restructuring journey.
He said the exchange offer reflected the terms agreed in principle with bondholders on June 24th, including important concessions from bondholders.
The Minister said this step would ensure a fair burden sharing between domestic, official, and commercial external creditors.
He announced this at the monthly press briefing on Ghana’s economy, highlighting the recent development in the government’s effort to restructure its external debts.
Dr Amin said the exchange would be open for 21 days, adding that the government counted on the full support of the bondholder community, both abroad and in Ghana, to reach high participation levels.
Under the exchange offer, he said investors could choose between two options: first, a nominal value with no nominal haircut but low interest rates, and a Disco option with a 37 per cent nominal haircut but higher interest rates.
The Minister stressed that bond exchange will allow Ghana to save US$4.4 billion in debt service and a cancellation of US$4.7 billion throughout the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
He said the cancellation and absence of debt servicing could contribute to reducing Ghana’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 55 per cent by 2028 to achieve the debt target.
The Minister also said the progress in the external debt restructuring effort would pave the way for a normalisation of Ghana’s relationship with the international markets.
He, however, revealed that the government had taken steps to ensure the completion of strategic infrastructure that was impacted by the debt operation.
“Our efforts have enabled us to complete the Prempeh (I) International Airport, the Afari Military Hospital in Kumasi, as well as the Yakubu Tali International Airport in Tamale. 23. This week, the President cut sod for the Accra-Tema Motorway redevelopment project. Two (2) days ago, I also visited the Kasoa-Winneba Road, which is being fully funded from the national budget. Like many of you who ply that road, I am very impressed with the progress of work on this critical road,“ he said.
Dr Amin asserted that the government was working with development partners to implement the Economic Roads Improvement Programme, which includes the Accra-Kumasi Road.
According to him, this is part of a broader strategy to open up the country for trade, tourism, and regional integration.