DDEP saved Ghana approximately $12 billion – Amin Adam

Minister of Finance Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam revealed that the successful implementation of the Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP) has saved Ghana a staggering $12 billion.

Dr. Amin Adam made these statements at the panel held within the scope of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group 2024 Annual Meetings held on Wednesday, October 23.

The session focused on the challenges faced by low-income countries in managing debt, which is a pressing issue for many countries grappling with financial instability, combined with global economic uncertainties and other external shocks.

The Minister of Finance emphasized that DDEP is an effective policy measure in resolving Ghana’s financial challenges and easing its debt burden, creating a more sustainable financial environment.

Dr. According to Amin Adam, DDEP, launched in December 2022, was a tremendous success that laid the foundation for broader debt restructuring efforts.

He explained that this program requires domestic bondholders to replace their existing bonds with new ones with different terms, a critical move aimed at reducing the government’s debt service obligations.

The Minister of Finance also revealed that the government is currently working with its trade creditors to restructure approximately $2.7 billion.

“DDEP was a huge success and we followed this with the restructuring of our bilateral debt, which was also hugely successful and resulted in significant savings of around $2.8 billion, followed by the restructuring of our Eurobonds of around $13 billion. This project, completed in the first week of this month, is also a great success.

“The benefits we’ve gotten from this so far include direct debt cancellation of about $5 billion and another debt service relief of about $4.3 billion. Between bilateral creditors and Eurobonds, we’re talking about a savings of about $12 billion and we “This is a great achievement and we are going through an extraordinary restructuring process with our trade creditors involving approximately $2.7 billion and we are working hard to finalize this.”