Ghana's finance ministry has invited eligible holders to exchange $809.9 million in domestic U.S. dollar bonds for a package of new bonds with lower rates and longer maturities, it said on Friday, Reuters reported. The country's cocoa board launched a debt securities exchange programme on the terms of the government's exchange memorandum, under which it is inviting holders of its short-term debt securities to voluntarily offer to exchange their Cocoa Bills for longer-term debt securities.
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Ghana aims to exempt loans from the African Export & Import Bank (Afreximbank) from being restructured, finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta said, as the country seeks new terms on $20 billion in external debt and recovery from a deep economic crisis, Reuters reported. The gold-, cocoa- and oil-exporter, which defaulted on most external debt in December, aims to reduce its external debt repayments by $10.5 billion over the next three years to qualify for the next tranche of a $3 billion loan deal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "I have to find a way to do it.
The International Monetary Fund's executive board has approved a long-awaited $3 billion bailout for Ghana in hopes of combating the country’s economic crisis, the Associated Press reported. The arrangement will allow for the immediate release of $600 million, with the remaining funds to be made available over the course of the next three years, the IMF said in a statement Wednesday. Facing soaring inflation, high debt and a weakening currency, Ghana's government began negotiations with the IMF last July for a bailout package.
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Ghana's official creditors have formed a committee co-chaired by China and France to launch debt restructurings talks, the Paris Club said on Friday, paving the way for a sign-off on a $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan for the country, Reuters reported. The West African nation is struggling through its worst economic crisis in a generation, defaulting on most of its external debt in December and completing a domestic debt exchange in February.
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Some investors of Ghana's 2030 Eurobond have received coupon payments which had been due on April 14, Reuters reported. The country announced it would default on some its external debt in December and has not made payments on its international bonds since. However, the bond maturing in 2030 with a coupon of 10.75% is partially guaranteed by the World Bank, so payment kicked in this week via the bank's International Development Association.
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Ghana expects the International Monetary Fund's board to approve a $3 billion loan by the end of the second quarter of 2023, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said in a presentation on Thursday, Reuters reported. The embattled West African country secured a staff-level agreement with the IMF for the $3 billion support package in December. But the Fund requires bilateral lenders to provide assurances they will restructure its debt as a condition of signing off on the loan.
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Ghana's government and international bondholders are pushing forward with formal debt talks after advisors to both sides signed non-disclosure agreements, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The West African country, which suspended payments on most of its external debt last year, has picked Lazard as its financial adviser, while a group of international private lenders are represented by Rothschild & Co. Ghana's dollar-denominated debt is more than $13 billion across maturities ranging from 2023 to 2061, according to Refinitiv data.
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Ghana’s embattled cedi has rebounded 5% against the dollar in March as the government’s decision to suspend external debt payments eased demand for greenbacks in the local foreign exchange market, Bloomberg News reported. The west African nation unilaterally stopped payments on eurobonds and other external debt in December, pending an agreement with creditors that is needed to unlock an International Monetary Fund bailout. Traders said the impact is beginning to filter through to the currency, after it lost ground in the first two months of the year.
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A panel of investors and banks has ruled Ghana’s missed coupon payments on its foreign denominated bonds counts as a failure-to-pay event, paving the way for a payout of the default-insurance contracts tied to the country’s debt, Bloomberg News reported. The Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee (CDDC) made the decision at a meeting held on Monday, according to a notice on the panel’s website on Friday. Ghana skipped payment of interests on Jan. 18 of a $1 billion eurobond maturing in 2026.
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Ghana’s eurobonds sank to the lowest level in nearly three months after the country missed a self-imposed deadline to restructure its bilateral debt and S&P Global Ratings warned that bondholders face larger losses than anticipated, Bloomberg News reported. Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta wanted to reach a restructuring agreement with bilateral creditors by the end of February to help qualify for a $3 billion International Monetary Fund program. So far, Ghana has only partially completed the domestic-debt part of the exchange plan.
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