Deputy Minister of Finance, Abena Osei Asare, has expressed optimism in Ghana’s economic recovery through the International Monetary Program (IMF).
According to her, the government of Ghana Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) has achieved 50% participation.
Speaking at the SIGA Annual Stakeholder Meeting in Kwahu in the Eastern region, the minister said the government hopes to achieve a 80% participation for the domestic debt exchange programme.
“Ghana is on right track to get deal, there have been a few challenges, especially with the domestic one.” Initially we announced a package that the participants were not too happy with, but this government being a listening government, we have worked with all the stakeholders locally to make sure we arrive at a programme. We did this in record time on theby ensuring we reached a staff level agreement in December 2022. “We will conclude the domestic debt exchange programme by Friday and settle on the 14th of February, then we can now focus on our external debt and, through that get to the board of the IMF in March and get a programme.”
She further stated that the government was very hopeful that more bondholders who were unable to tender their documents on Tuesday will complete the process before the new Friday deadline.
The government of Ghana formally approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July 2022 for a US$3 billion, three-year extended credit facility programme to revive the ailing economy.
For the deal to be successful, Ghana needs to restructure both its domestic and external debt.
In executing the debt exchange program, it has encountered opposition from stakeholders.
The government extended the deadline for bondholders to complete tender processes as part of the contentious domestic debt exchange program on February 7.
The deadline for signing up for the programme expired on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, but the government, in a late-night press statement, said some of the bondholders faced “technical glitches as they tried to complete the online tender process,” hence the window to enable such persons to complete the process.
