Finance ministry announces possible ‘haircuts’

The Ministry of Finance has announced the government is looking into the possibility of conducting a debt operation that will cover the terms of payments of principal and interest on public debts (government bonds) – ‘Haircut’.

The ministry indicated that the move will help reduce the pressure on the government’s budget and also make the nation’s debts sustainable.

In a press release dated November 24, 2022, the ministry added that it will announce details of the debt operation in due course.

“As stated in the Budget Speech by the Honourable Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Government of Ghana is contemplating a debt operation aimed at alleviating the pressures on the national budget and restoring debt sustainability. This would also open up financing streams and provide needed balance of payment support from the Fund.

“Details of the different layers of a debt operation, including the terms of principal payments and interest on the public debt, are still being discussed, taking into account principles of debt sustainability and international best practices,” parts of the statement read.

It can be recalled that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo refuted suggestions that his government would buy off government bonds at rates lower than their expected returns, i.e., “haircut on Government bonds.”

Addressing the nation on measures being taken by the government to rescue the economy on Sunday, October 31, Akufo-Addo said: “I also want to assure all Ghanaians that no individual or institutional investor, including pension funds, in government treasury bills or instruments will lose their money, as a result of our ongoing IMF negotiations.

“There will be no “haircuts”, so I urge all of you to ignore the false rumours, just as, in the banking sector cleanup, government ensured that the 4.6 million depositors affected by the exercise did not lose their deposits.”

He cautioned, “those who make it a habit of publishing falsehoods, which result in panic in the system, I say to them that the relevant state agencies will act against such persons”.

But the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, later came out to explain Akufo-Addo’s assurances that there will be no haircut, cover only principals.

“My understanding is that no principals will be touched. No principals will have a haircut. The debt sustainability strategy is yet to be announced in full.

“When they are done with the rest of the strategy, and they come out and do a full announcement, we will have clarity on the form that the debt restructuring will take,” the information minister said.