Former Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has indicated that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) must be commended for ensuring timely coupon payments under the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
The former minister noted that the Akufo-Addo government had laid strategic plans for smooth payment processes.
In his opinion, the decision by the current government to honour the fourth coupon payment to bondholders was not solely due to a directive from President John Mahama.
He stated that the NPP government had already committed resources to meet these obligations before the current administration took office.
“The NDC government has announced that the president has directed the minister for finance to honour coupon payments to DDEP bondholders,” Dr. Amin wrote, referring to President Mahama’s directive.
The Karaga MP said the NPP government had honoured three previous payments between August 2023 and December 2024.
He disclosed that these payments, both in Payment-In-Cash (PIC) and Payment-In-Kind (PIK), amounted to a total of GH₵17.25 billion in PIC and GH₵9.77 billion in PIK.
He added that individual bondholders who did not tender their bonds were paid GH₵515.17 million in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between the government and the Coalition of Individual Bondholders.
He said under the previous NPP government, there had been no defaults in coupon payments since the domestic debt restructuring, with reserves built in the Debt Reserves Accounts to support upcoming obligations, including the fourth coupon payment.
The lawmaker added that these consistent payments demonstrate that the NPP government laid a strong foundation for the continuation of the DDEP, making it inaccurate to attribute the fourth payment solely to President Mahama’s directive.
Read his full post below
4th DDEP Coupon Payments
The NDC Government has announced that the President has directed the Minister for Finance to honour coupon payments to DDEP bondholders. As reported in the announcement, this will be the 4th coupon payment which is due on Tuesday 18th February, 2025. This means the previous NPP Government honoured 3 previous payments both in Payment-In-Cash (PIC) and Payment-In-Kind (PIK) between August 2023 and December 2024.
The NPP government paid a total of GHS17.25 billion in PIC and GHS9.77 billion in PIK to bondholders. Also, individuals who did not tender their bonds were paid coupons amounting to GHS515.17 million at various times between 2023 and 2024, in line with the MoU signed between the Government and the Coalition of Individual Bondholders.
Since the restructuring of the Domestic Debts, the previous NPP government has not defaulted in coupons. Buffers were also built in the Debt Reserves Accounts to support upcoming debt service obligations such as the 4th coupon payments.
The Breakdown of the payments as follows:
1st Payments: August 2023 Total payment – GHS8.55 billion
(PIC – GHS5.42 billion & PIK deposit – GHS3.13 billion)
2nd Payments: February 2024 Total payment – GHS9.11 billion (PIC – GHS5.85 billion &
PIK deposit – GHS3.27 billion)
3rd Payments: August 2024 Total Payment – GHS9.35 billion
(PIC – GHS5.98 billion & PIK deposit – GHS3.38 billion).
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
