Debt exchange: GH¢83bn of old bonds swapped

The government has successfully swapped GH¢83 billion of its old cedi bonds for new ones under a domestic debt exchange programme (DDEP) that ended on February 10, sources working on the programme have told Graphic Online.

The amount is equivalent to about 85 per cent of the domestic debt stock, which totaled about GH¢118 billion – when pension fund holdings are excluded.

The government exempted the pension funds, whose holdings are about GH¢12.3 billion from the programme that extends repayment tenures and lowers the coupons.

It is a prerequisite to securing a US$3 billion support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help stabilise the cedi, which lost more than 50 per cent of its value to the US dollar, in 2022 and arrest inflation that spiraled to 54.1 per cent last December.

One of the sources said some individual bondholders did not subscribe to the offer but said their holdings were insignificant.

Pensioner bondholders openly declined the offer, describing it as inimical to their investments interests, and their request for exemption was not heeded.

The successful conclusion of the DDEP paves the way for the government to open similar discussions with external creditors, with the view to bringing the debt stock to sustainable levels.

More details soon...