Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, the Finance Minister, has disclosed that the successful implementation of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) saved Ghana a $12 billion.
He revealed this during a panel discussion held as part of the 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, which took place on Wednesday, October 23.
The meeting focused on the difficulties faced by low-income countries in managing debt, a pressing issue for many nations grappling with financial instability, compounded by global economic uncertainties and other external shocks.
Dr. Adam indicated that the DDEP had been an instrumental policy measure in addressing Ghana’s financial difficulties and alleviating its debt load, creating a more sustainable fiscal environment.
Dr. Amin Adam reported that the DDEP, introduced in December 2022, was a resounding success, laying the groundwork for broader debt restructuring initiatives.
By requiring domestic bondholders to exchange existing bonds for new ones with modified terms, the program aimed to alleviate the government’s debt service burdens, he noted.
“The DDEP was a great success, and we followed that with the restructuring of our bilateral debt, which was also very successful, and this led to a significant savings of about $2.8 billion, and then following this, the restructuring of our Eurobonds, which is about $13 billion, which was concluded in the first week of this month, which is another great success.
“The benefits we have derived from this so far include an outright debt cancellation of about $5 billion and another debt service relief of about $4.3 billion, and so between the bilateral creditors and the Eurobonds, we are talking about savings of about $12 billion, and we think this is a great success, and we are still having an outstanding restructuring with our commercial creditors involving about $2.7 billion, and we are working very hard to conclude that.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
