Government has secured more than the needed 80% participation in the Domestic Debt Exchange program (DDEP) as part of key steps to reach board level approval with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a $3 billion facility to restore macroeconomic stability in the country.
“The government’s DDEP closed on Friday 10th February 2023 with over 80% participation of eligible bonds” the finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Government targeted 80% participation in the program to help restructure 137.3 billion Ghana cedis in bonds on the domestic market to bring its total debt, which stands at about 575.5 billion Ghana cedis to sustainable levels.
The government expressed gratitude to the people of Ghana for the support throughout these very difficult times and said it will consider inputs made by all stakeholders during the DDEP engagements to further streamline government’s expenditures. The finance ministry maintained that the exercise was voluntary and thus the right of the individual to self-exempt was never in doubt.
“Government offered alternatives to encourage individual bondholders and retirees to tender for the new bonds which will have wider secondary market circulation” the statement added.