Ghana exchanged about US$4.0 billion worth of domestic debt, taking another step towards broadly restructuring its debt and its obligations under an International Monetary Fund programme.
In a statement released yesterday, the government announced the results of the USD-denominated local bond exchange that closed on 25 August 2023, with 92 percent of eligible holders participating. Investors agreed to swap US$741.7 million of foreign currency-denominated notes out of US$809 million eligible bonds for two new securities maturing in 2027 and 2028 that pay 2.75 percent and 3.25 percent respectively.
The government said that it was pleased with the results and that this was a milestone in implementing the strategies in the Post-COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG). To provide sufficient time to settle the new bonds in an efficient manner, the authorities stated that they have extended the settlement date of the exchange from 1 September 2023 to 4 September.
The issue date, interest accrual schedules and payment schedules for the new bonds will be adjusted to reflect the actual settlement date. Additionally, pension funds agreed to exchange GHS29.6bn (US$2.6bn) out of GHS31bn of existing bonds for two new notes maturing in 2027 and 2028. The new instruments pay a total of 21% coupon, compared with an average rate of 18.5 percent on the old holdings, under a special structuring to ensure the retirement funds don’t lose any money.
