The Director of Strategy and Business Operations at Dalex Finance, Joe Jackson has charged institutions and individuals to embrace the government’s proposed measures regarding its debt exchange program.
Some industry players have chided government on aspects of the policy.
Speaking on the merits and otherwise of the scheme, Joe Jackson said, although it presents a difficult situation, the public should remain calm.
“It will be abnormal for such a haircut to take place and everyone to keep rushing into government bonds, so definitely the government will take some amount of it in terms of its effort to raise money.
We’ve been shut off from the foreign Eurobond market and the local market is going to be tougher.
It is true the alternative is dire and so we have to take a rational measured approach to this bitter pill we are about to swallow.” He said.
As a critical part of the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to secure Ghana $3 billion in support for the county’s economy, the government is exchanging already sold bonds for new ones with a more flexible interest payment plan.
This was announced by the Finance Minister during the presentation of the 2023 Budget Statement.
Ghana’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme has been launched to put the country’s debt on a sustainable path.
The debt restructuring will see a slash in interest payments for domestic bondholders to zero percent in 2023 and five percent in 2024.
