The Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, announced that Ghana achieved significant financial relief, saving approximately $12 billion through the successful execution of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
During a panel discussion at the 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group on October 23, Dr. Amin Adam emphasized the program’s vital role in enhancing Ghana’s fiscal stability.
The panel focused on the difficulties low-income countries face in managing debt, highlighting how Ghana’s DDEP has contributed to addressing its financial challenges. Introduced in December 2022, the DDEP aimed to alleviate the government’s debt service obligations, offering critical fiscal relief amid a tough global economic landscape.
Dr. Amin Adam explained that by mandating domestic bondholders to exchange their existing bonds for new ones with modified terms, the program effectively reduced the government’s debt burden, making it more sustainable. He described the DDEP as a cornerstone of Ghana’s broader debt restructuring strategy, essential in mitigating the country’s economic difficulties.
The Karaga Member of Parliament noted that the successful implementation of the DDEP has laid the groundwork for ongoing efforts to restructure the nation’s debt. He revealed that the government is currently engaged in restructuring approximately $2.7 billion in debt with commercial creditors, further aimed at easing financial pressures and stabilizing the economy.
“The DDEP was a great success, followed by the restructuring of our bilateral debt, which also yielded significant savings of around $2.8 billion,” he stated. Dr. Amin Adam added that the restructuring of Eurobonds, totaling about $13 billion, was concluded in the first week of this month, marking another major achievement.
“The benefits derived from these efforts include a direct debt cancellation of about $5 billion and additional debt service relief of approximately $4.3 billion. Combined with savings from bilateral creditors and Eurobonds, we are talking about total savings of around $12 billion. This is a remarkable success, and we are continuing our restructuring efforts with our commercial creditors involving about $2.7 billion,” he concluded.
