Ghana to Swap Local Debt in Fight to Regain Economic Stability

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Ghana asked investors to exchange around $9 billion in domestic debt for new bonds on Monday (Dec.5) to ease a crunch in payments as the government negotiates an IMF bailout during its worst economic crisis in decades.

Finance Minister Kenneth Ofori-Atta said the debt exchange starting Monday would seek to exchange around 137 billion cedis or $9.7 billion in current debt for four new bonds maturing between 2027 and 2037.

“This is a key requirement to allow Ghana’s economy to recover as fast as possible from this crisis. This is also a key requirement to secure IMF support,” he told a press briefing.

The West African state is in talks for up to $3 billion in credit from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help shore up its public finances.

Inflation is running at more than 40 percent and the national currency, the cedi, has lost 50 percent in value this year, helping to push up debt by $6 billion in 2022.

As part of IMF negotiations, Ghana’s government is seeking to make its debt more sustainable after facing warnings about the risks of default.

Published On: African News

Publication Date: 06/12/22

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