GOVERNMENT has finally extended an invitation to investors in pension funds to join the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
The arrangement requires investors who are holding domestic notes and bonds to turn to exchange approximately GH¢31 billion principal amount of eligible bonds for a package of new bonds.
A statement from the Ministry of Finance said the invitation “is intended to enable the pension funds to preserve their patrimonial value while exchanging their eligible bonds for bonds that offer more potential liquidity.”
The Ministry said that the Invitation was available only to registered holders of eligible bonds that are pension funds.
The statement noted that eligible holders tendering their eligible bonds pursuant to the invitation will receive government’s exchange bonds on the terms and subject to the conditions described in the exchange memorandum.
“Eligible holders who deliver valid offers at or prior to the expiration date that are accepted by the government will receive on the settlement date in exchange for their eligible bonds accepted by the Government, the same aggregate principal amount distributed across new tranches of the currently outstanding government of Ghana bonds issued in February 2023 and maturing in 2027 and 2028,” the statement added.
Deadline for the invitation will expire on August 18 2023
Organised Labour had persistently indicated it will fiercely resist any attempt by government to include pension funds in a supposed second phase of the DDEP however the government’s engagement, especially with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) worked to tone down the dissent.
Finance Minister in his presentation of the 2023 mid-year budget disclosed that although pension funds were exempted from the DDEP, government continued to engage managers of those funds
