Ghana

Ghana has started a market for trading short-term debt, a platform that builds on the fixed income market created more than eight years ago, and comes as the country restructures debt to make it sustainable under an International Monetary Fund program, Bloomberg News reported. The market for selling and buying of commercial paper provides the avenue for companies and organizations seeking to issue debt within the shortest possible time frame to do so and for investors to find enhanced credit worthiness, Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange Abena Amoah, said in the capital, Accra.

Ghana and creditors expect to reach an agreement in principle to restructure overseas bonds as soon as the end of May, Bloomberg News reported. A committee of bondholders and representatives for the government are waiting for the International Monetary Fund to approve an updated economic review, which is likely to allow a deal to move forward, said the people, who requested anonymity because the talks are private. The two sides are trying to rework about $13 billion of Eurobonds, one of the final steps in the nation’s restructuring process.

Ghana has made “significant progress” in debt-restructuring negotiations and the latest snag that sent its eurobonds tumbling on Monday will be ironed out in further talks with bondholders, Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam said, Bloomberg News reported. Negotiations that started mid-March resulted in an interim deal last week with international investors holding about 40% of Ghana’s $13 billion of defaulted eurobonds.

Ghanaian authorities and international bondholders expect to begin talks this week aimed at a deal to restructure roughly $13 billion of defaulted global debt, Bloomberg News reported. A group representing the private investors and government officials plan to hold meetings to kick off negotiations over the coming days. Creditors entered into non-disclosure agreements with the government this week, signaling a first step in the process. Bondholders are weighing a proposal put forth by the government.

Ghana is resisting calls by holders of the country’s eurobonds to offer a sweetener for restructuring $13 billion of debt, risking a self-imposed deadline for a deal, Bloomberg News reported. Investors have asked Ghana to link interest payments on some of the debt to the future economic growth of the West African nation. Bondholders want Ghana to mirror Suriname, which last year issued a so-called value-recovery instrument that pays out if the nation becomes oil-rich.

Ghana has won a moratorium with official creditors on debt payments through May 2026, and expects to reach a deal with eurobond investors to revamp $13 billion debt by the end of March, Bloomberg News reported. Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said the payments owed on $5.4 billion of bilateral obligations would be repaid in two tranches in 16 and 17 years’ time, under the terms of the deal struck in principle last week. It was the first time he has publicly shared these details of the pact.

Ghana's official creditors have agreed to restructure debts that were extended to the country up until December 2022, two sources told Reuters, with Accra closing in on a key step required to advance its restructuring, Reuters reported. A deal between Ghana and its official creditors would pave the way for the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve the disbursement of $600 million under its $3 billion bailout programme.

A senior U.S. Treasury official on Monday said there were signs of "potential improvement" in sovereign debt restructuring cases and more vulnerable countries were expected to seek help, but further work was needed to accelerate the process, Reuters reported. Treasury Assistant Secretary for International Finance Brent Neiman noted advances in the cases of Zambia, Ghana and Sri Lanka over the past year, along with development of new technical approaches, adding his hope that Ghana would reach agreement on its external restructuring in the coming weeks.

Ghana agreed to terms to swap about $4 billion of domestic debt, taking another step toward meeting its obligations under an International Monetary Fund bailout, Bloomberg News reported. The results imply Ghana achieved about 95% target under the latest three debt exchange deals. The country’s Eurobond maturing in 2032 declined by 0.2 cents on Wednesday to 43.7 cents on the dollar. Notes maturing in 2051 dropped by a similar amount to 42 cents on the dollar.

Ghana’s central bank surprised financial markets by raising borrowing cost to a record high to speed up a deceleration in inflation, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary policy committee lifted the rate to 30% from 29.5%, Governor Ernest Addison told reporters in the capital, Accra, on Monday. Only three of 13 economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted an increase. The cedi stayed about 0.3% weaker after the announcement to trade at 11.48 per the dollar by 12:32 p.m. in Accra.