By: Roberta Gayode Modin
The Ministry of Finance, headed by Ken Ofori-Atta launched the Ghana Domestic Debt Exchange programme on December 5, 2022. meant to lessen the impact of the country’s economic hardship on investors holding government bonds.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Ministry of Information, the Finance Minister reiterated that there would be exemption of Treasury Bills, no haircut on the principal of Bonds, and individual holders of bonds will not be affected under the debt exchange program.
However, domestic bondholders will see some changes, the Finance Minister said.
“Under the Programme, domestic bondholders will be asked to exchange their instruments for new ones. Existing domestic bonds as of 1st December 2022 will be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029,2032 and 2037. The annual coupon on all of these new bonds will be set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024, and 10% from 2025 until maturity. Coupon payments will be semi-annual,” he stated.
According to the Finance Ministry, these measures are in place to minimize the economic hardship in the country and to restore investor confidence on the Ghanaian market.
Mr. Ofori-Atta called for collective effort from Ghanaians and investors to help in the successful run of Ghana’s domestic debt exchange programme.