Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has disclosed that government is looking at reopening the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme for persons who did not sign up to reconsider their decisions.

According to him, the move has been influenced by concerns of tradability by some investors who still want to hold on to the old bonds and government papers. 

Dr. Adam added that the proposal could be considered soon with some measures taken to deal with the concerns of all investors. 

Appealing to bondholders who did not sign up the first time, he urged such investors to take the opportunity when the window is opened to the public.

“Context is very important, maybe initially they didn’t understand the terms offered under the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme. So if they have changed their minds, they are welcomed” the minister added.

Ghana’s DDEP

Government in December 2022 launched the programme to allow investors holding government bonds to exchange it for new bonds under the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

The programme was extended on three occasions with the offer finally ending in February 2023.

The debt operation is part of a comprehensive set of measures for reducing the present value of public debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio to, at least, 55 per cent in the medium term by offering an effective cap on interest payments on public debt.

According to government, it had about 85 percent participation from bond holders.

Participation in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme

The Finance Ministry in the statement at the end of February 2023 disclosed that it had more than 80 percent of the bond holders participating in the debt exchange programme.

However, there were some individuals who still did not participate in the programme.

By this, the investors who did not sign up for the DDEP stuck to the old terms of the initial bonds.

Subsequently challenges faced by government in honoring the bonds forced the old bondholders to picket the Finance Ministry.