Ghana’s much-awaited debt sustainability analysis (DSA), which is a prerequisite for a bailout programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has been completed, according to Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
The DSA will clearly determine the country’s total debt and outline measures that the government must take to return the debt to a sustainable level.
“The debt analysis has been completed and the details will be announced soon,” Mr Oppong Nkrumah who is also lawmaker for Ofoasi-Ayirebi said in an interview with 3Business.
Africa’s second top gold producer is seeking to raise about $3 billion in funding from the IMF for balance of payment support and regain access to the capital market.
However, the over GH¢400 million ($38 billion) of debt has been deemed unsustainable, compelling the government to restructure the liabilities in order to secure assistance from the Washington-based lender.
Speculations about the debt readjustment and possible losses for bondholders have sparked sharp sell-offs of government assets and panic withdrawals on the capital market.
This has caused the Cedi to slump by more than 55% against the dollar this year, fanning inflation (37.2% in September) which has remained above the central bank’s target band for 15 consecutive months.
But President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assured investors that the planned debt restructuring will not result in a haircut.
“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,” he said in a televised address to the nation on Sunday October 30.
In a statement published Monday, the Finance Ministry said both the government and IMF are committed to agreeing on a framework and policies for a programme “as soon as feasible.”