The process of paying the first coupon payment for bonds affected by the domestic debt exchange scheme has been started by the Ghanaian government through the Ministry of Finance (DDEP).
The matured coupons total GHC 2.4 billion, and the Ministry claims that settlement instructions have already been received.
In an effort to reorganize Ghana’s unmanageable debt load, the DDEP was started in 2022. A new bond with a lower interest rate and a longer maturity period might be exchanged for an older bond by qualifying bondholders under the scheme.
The coupon payment for the affected bonds was agreed to be 5%, which was lower than the interest rates on the old bonds.
However, there were initial market uncertainties about whether the government would be able to make the 5% coupon payment, but the Ministry of Finance has allayed these concerns, stating that the settlement of the first coupon payment is consistent with the government’s commitment to the continued success and credibility of the country’s domestic debt operations.
The ministry also noted that the new bonds that were issued under the DDEP now stand as the dominant instruments in the domestic bond market.
