Government denies reports on debt restructuring for local contractors

The government, through the Ministry of Finance, has refuted reports of debt restructuring with local contractors.It said that those reports were false and should be disregarded by the public.'The Ministry wishes to state categorically that no such restructuring has been contemplated during or after the domestic debt restructuring programme, which commenced in December 2022 and came to a firm close in October 2023,' the Ministry said in a press statement.The statement stated that the Ministry had never engaged or invited contractors for debt restructuring discussions.'To clarify, debt restructuring refers to the reorganisation 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 explained in the statement.The statement noted that the completed Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) only covered domestic bonds h eld by the Central Bank, Pension Funds, and retail debt investors.Following the DDEP, the Ministry has made significant progress in external debt restructuring, including completing an MOU with the Official Creditor Committee under the G20 Common Framework.The Ministry said it had also launched the Consent and Exchange Solicitation process for Eurobond debt and commenced engagement with external commercial creditors to reach a beneficial solution in the coming weeks.Source: Ghana News Agency