1 month ago
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Ghana has successfully completed the restructuring of the $13 billion it owes to Eurobond holders with more than 98 per cent investors participation in the country’s consent solicitation, reducing the country’s total debt by $5 billion.
Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, who announced this at news conference in Accra yesterday said more than 98 per cent participation was significantly higher than the 65 per cent threshold from bondholders following the launch of the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation in September 2024.
He stated that the country would exchange the $13 billion in Eurobonds for new bonds in the coming weeks.
The Finance Minister disclosed that with the completion of the Eurobond debt restructuring, the government had completed the restructuring of more than 90 per cent of the country’s external debt.
“The agreement with bondholders has brought significant relief, including a 37 per cent reduction in the nominal value of Ghana’s debt, equivalent to a $5 billion reduction, and $4.3 billion in debt service savings, and the average interest rate on the bonded debt has decreased from over 8 per cent to less than 5 per cent,” Dr Adam revealed.
He added, “As Eurobonds constitute a substantial portion of our external debt, this milestone represents a pivotal step in our external debt restructuring efforts. More importantly, its successful completion will significantly contribute to restoring Ghana’s debt sustainability.”
The impressive result, Dr Adam noted, surpassed international benchmarks and demonstrated the strong support of Ghana’s bondholder community across Africa and in the international markets.
“This development cures Ghana’s default on international bonds, paving the way for normalised financial relationships with rating agencies and international markets. In essence, Ghana has now restructured over 90 per cent of its eligible external debt, marking a significant milestone in its economic recovery,” Finance Minister stated.
Dr Adam further indicated that without any adjustment, the country’s debt to GDP level (in present value terms) would have reached 109 per cent in 2028.
“Our fiscal adjustment efforts will contribute to bring down to 81 per cent in 2028. Our Domestic Debt Exchange Programme would bring it down by 10 percentage points to 71 per cent. Our agreement with the OCC will reduce it further by 6 percentage points and finally the deal completed with the Eurobond bondholders will bring the debt to Gross Domestic Product in present value terms to 55 per cent in 2028,” Dr Adamn indicated.
Moreover, The Finance Minister said the completion of the Eurobond debt restructuring marked an unprecedented success, positioning Ghana for a brighter economic future.
“With this milestone, we can now close a significant chapter on our debt restructuring, shift focus towards sustainable economic growth and development and build on the momentum of this accomplishment to drive further progress,” Dr Adam indicated.
He said the country debt exchange programme was “bigger and faster,” than any other country in Africa which is under an IMF-supported programme.
Dr Adam revealed that the successful completion of the restructuring “cures Ghana’s default on international bonds, paving the way for normalised financial relationships with rating agencies and international markets in essence, Ghana has now restructured over 90 per cent of its eligible external debt, marking a significant milestone in its economic recovery.”
The Finance Minister mentioned that his outfit was submitting proposals to the cabinet to submit to Parliament to review the Fiscal Responsibility law to put a restriction on the government as to the amount it can borrow in a fiscal year to ensure debt sustainability.
He said a sinking fund had been established to raise funds to pay the country’s debt when they fell into debt.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
