DDEP has achieved 50% participation so far - Deputy Finance Minister

In an interview with Citi FM on Wednesday, February 8, the minister said the government hopes to achieve a 80% participation for the domestic debt exchange programme.

“As of yesterday, when we decided to extend and grant that administrative window, we had done above 50 percent,” she told Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show.

She further stated that the government was very hopeful that more bondholders who were unable to tender their documents on Tuesday will complete the process before the new Friday deadline.

Government on Tuesday, February 7, extended the window for bondholders to complete tender processes as part of the controversial domestic debt exchange programme.

The deadline for signing up for the programme expired on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, but the government in a late-night press statement said some of the bondholders faced “technical glitches as they tried to complete the online tender process” hence the window to enable such persons to complete the process.

It has thus given such persons three days to do that.

“As a result, the government is providing bondholders with a window to complete processes for tendering their bonds, in response to the terms of Exchange as amended pursuant to the 2nd Amended and Restated Exchange Memorandum. This window ends on Friday, 10th February 2023 at 4:00 p.m. (GMT),” the Finance Ministry announced in a statement signed by sector minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

The deputy Finance Minister added that the government needs to conclude the programme to be able to conclude engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in March for the much-needed bailout.

Meanwhile, convener for the Individual Bondholders Forum, Senyo Hosi, says the individual bondholders do not want to sign up to the DDEP .

According to him, the group does not want to make any mistake with the Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP) that will spell doom for them in the future.

Hosi opined that individuals are better off than signing up for the new offer the government wants them to sign onto.