The expiration date of the Debt Exchange Programme (DEP) has been extended to the end of December this year, the Ministry of Finance, has announced.
It said in view of the of the festive season, the government had decided to extend the Expiration Date of the voluntary offer to Friday December 30, 2022, with a contemplated settlement date on Friday January 6th, 2023.
The voluntary programme should have expired today December 19, 2022.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Finance in Accra on Saturday and copied to the Ghanaian Times, said “Over the last ten days, we continued the consultation efforts that we initiated with all stakeholders ahead of the launching of the offer, including regulators, bankers, pension funds, asset managers, insurance companies.”
It said the Ministry fully considered feedback from the financial sector in relation to the need to secure internal and Executive Board approvals which were necessary considerations for their participation in the Exchange, adding that in some instances may require emergency board meetings.
“The extension also affords Government of Ghana the opportunity to consider suggestions made by all stakeholders with the aim of adjusting certain measures acceptable within the constraints of the Debt Sustainability Analysis,” the statement, said.
The Ministry of Finance said it believed the extension would provide enough time for the necessary consultations and analysis to be completed to meet the expectations of local and foreign institutional bondholders while preserving the integrity of the Debt Sustainability Analysis and the Staff Level Agreement.
The statement said the government was working with the Bank of Ghana and other regulators such as the Security and Exchange Commission, National Pensions Regulatory Authority and the National Insurance Commission) in the financial sector, our advisors and including input from various institutions and the Unions.
December 6, 2022 the domestic debt operation (which is formally referred to as the Invitation to Exchange) was launched as part of measures to restore the macroeconomic stability in view of the country’s growing debt.
The extension comes on the heels of the announcement of the SLA with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on December 13, 2022, for a $3 billion Extended Credit Facility over a three-year period to promote macroeconomic stability of the country.
The SLA is necessary since it is based on the IMF Management and Executive Board’s decision on whether to approve or reject Ghana’s programme with the Fund.
The government in June this year engaged the IMF for a programme to restore macroeconomic stability in view of the country’s growing public debt which had reached unsustainable levels per Debt Sustainability Analysis conducted by the government.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
