DDEP payments stem from NPP’s strategy, not Mahama’s directive—Amin Adam

Former Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has dismissed claims that the decision to honour the fourth coupon payment to Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) bondholders was solely directed by President John Mahama.

According to Dr. Amin Adam, the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government had already put measures in place to ensure a smooth continuation of these payments.

“The NDC government has announced that the President has directed the Finance Minister to make coupon payments to DDEP bondholders,” the Karaga MP wrote in a Facebook article on Monday, February 17.

“As stated in the announcement, this will be the fourth coupon payment, due on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. This means the previous NPP government had already honored three prior payments—both in Payment-In-Cash (PIC) and Payment-In-Kind (PIK)—between August 2023 and December 2024.”

Dr. Amin Adam emphasised that the NPP administration had committed substantial resources to fulfilling these obligations.

He noted that between August 2023 and December 2024, the government disbursed GH¢17.25 billion in PIC and GH¢9.77 billion in PIK to bondholders.

Additionally, individual bondholders who did not tender their bonds received a total of GH¢515.17 million, in line with a memorandum of understanding between the government and the Coalition of Individual Bondholders.

Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam emphasised that under the NPP government, there was no default in coupon payments following the domestic debt restructuring.

“Buffers were also built in the Debt Reserves Accounts to support upcoming debt service obligations, including the fourth coupon payment,” he noted.

Outlining the payments made under the NPP administration, he provided the following breakdown:

• 1st Payment (August 2023): GH¢8.55 billion (PIC – GH¢5.42 billion & PIK – GH¢3.13 billion).
• 2nd Payment (February 2024): GH¢9.11 billion (PIC – GH¢5.85 billion & PIK – GH¢3.27 billion).
• 3rd Payment (August 2024): GH¢9.35 billion (PIC – GH¢5.98 billion & PIK – GH¢3.38 billion).

Dr. Amin Adam argued that these consistent payments demonstrate the NPP government’s commitment to sustaining the programme, making it inaccurate to credit the fourth payment solely to President Mahama’s directive.

“The buffers we built were not accidental. We planned ahead to ensure bondholders received their payments on time. It is, therefore, misleading to suggest that this payment is solely the result of a new directive from the current administration,” he stated.