The Government of Ghana has further extended the deadline of its Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) to Tuesday, February 7th, 2023.
Prior to this, Ghanaians have speculated further extension of the deadline, due to the inconclusiveness of the government on its terms and conditions as far as the debt exchange program is concerned.
Further extension to the overdue Domestic Debt Exchange Programme has validated previous speculations made.
According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF)’s press release dated, January 31st, 2023 – which was also supposed to be the final deadline to signing up for the exchange programme, the government announced its final extension of the programme to Tuesday, February 7th, 2023.
This is to allow it more room to finalize on its discussions with various stakeholders.
Further updates from the press release reveal that the government has made a head way on its negotiations and further engagements with the key stakeholders to the debt exchange programme.
“The Government of Ghana has made significant progress with all stakeholders, including financial sector industry associations and representative groups of individual bondholders, with respect to their participation in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).”
MoF Press Release
Going on, the government has announced that all key stakeholders engaged, that includes: the Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB), Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) and the Ghana Securities Industry Association (GSIA) have accepted the new modifications made to the programme.
To this effect, government stated that it will release a revised and final Exchange Memorandum tomorrow, Thursday, February 2nd, 2023, detailing its agreements with the key stakeholders to the programme.
DDEP: Government’s New Offer To Stakeholders
Based on the agreements reached so far with the representative groups, government’s new offer includes: an affirmation that all individual bondholders are free not to participate, however, noted that there will be very few of the ‘old bonds’ in circulation and a likely limit placed on its tradability to ensure the success of the DDEP.
In this regard, the Government has made available alternative offers to encourage all individual bondholders to participate in the Exchange.
“All individual bondholders who are below the age of 59 years will be offered instruments with a maximum maturity of 5 years, instead of 15 years, and a 10% coupon rate.
“All retirees (including those retiring in 2023) will be offered instruments with a maximum maturity of 5 years, instead of 15 years, and a 15% coupon rate.”
MoF Press Release
All these new arrangements, the government added, will form part of the new Exchange Memorandum to be released tomorrow, Thursday, February 2nd, 2023.
“Additionally, discussions are being finalized with Organized Labour and Pension Fund Trustees, on a separate arrangement in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Organized Labour on 22nd December 2022, and in line with government’s debt management Programme.”
MoF Press Release
The Government is therefore by this notice, encouraging all stakeholders to participate in the DDEP, which it stated is a necessary step towards attaining its debt sustainability targets and restoring macroeconomic stability and economic growth.
All these recent developments have called for further extension of the DDEP deadline to February 7th, 2023 as well as further extension of the settlement date to February 14th, 2023.
Moreover, this information, the government indicated, will be confirmed in the updated Exchange Memorandum.
Government, in its concluding remarks, expressed appreciation to the various stakeholders for their cordial engagements since the beginning of the DDEP, making the program progressive and remarkable.
“All bondholders are hereby encouraged to commence all administrative processes towards their participation in the Exchange, in line with the agreements reached.”
MoF Press Release
