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Government has debunked reports that it is working to restructure debts owed local contractors.
The Finance Ministry in statement issued on Monday, September 9, 2024 said there are no such plans on the table.
“No such restructuring has been contemplated during or even after the domestic debt restructuring programme, which commenced in December 2022 and came to a close in October 2023”, the statement said.
Background
During a question and answer section at a recent press briefing, Minister for Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam revealed that government is working to restructure about US$2.8 billion for external commercial creditors.
However, the ministry observed that the answer was misunderstood to mean a debt restructuring of local contractors.
The Minister, has stressed that there are no plans to restructure debts owed local contractors.
Finance Ministry on Debt owed contractors
According to the ministry, the debt restructuring refers to the reorganization of Ghana's stock of debt, comprising loans and bonds.
“Domestic contractors' liabilities, on the other hand, are payment claims, not loans or bonds, and do not fall under the category of obligations eligible for restructuring”.
“The Ministry of Finance has never engaged or invited contractors for debt restructuring discussions” the statement added.
It explained that the completed Domestic Debt Exchange Programme only covered domestic bonds held by the central bank, Pension Funds, and retail debt investors, with no mention of contractors' payments.
Update on Ghana’s Debt Exchange Programme with Creditors
On the status of the debt restructuring with creditors, the Finance Ministry revealed that it has made significant progress in the External Bilateral Creditors.
This includes completing an MOU with the Official Creditor Committee under the G20 Common Framework.
Government has also launched the Consent and Exchange Solicitation process for Eurobond debt to try and restructure some US$30 billion and that offer should end on September 30 2024.
Government has also announced that it will start engaging external Commercial Creditors to reach deal in the coming weeks.
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