Business News of Thursday, 12 October 2017
Source: citifmonline.com
2017-10-12
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Ghana has cleared her first Eurobond issued in 2007.
A former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper who confirmed this to Citi Business News said the government cleared the final installment of the bond on October 4, 2017.
According to him, the government resorted to about 200 million dollars from proceeds from oil and previous bonds issued to retire the debt.
Economist, Daniel Amarteye Anim also says that Ghana’s decision to repay its 2007 Eurobond on the maturity date will further deepen its reputation among external investors and increase patronage of future bonds to be issued.
According to him, the positive signal offered investors is also critical considering the need to devise strategies to retire the country’s ballooning debt.
“The decision to ensure that we meet repayment obligation is very key and critical as it will further enhance our credit worthiness especially in the eyes of international investors. However, once we do that what it means is that any inflows that comes in the form of a new issuance of a bond that is supposed to be used to execute pressing developmental projects, a certain percentage of it will be sacrificed for the matured repayment of the bond that was contracted earlier on,” he explained.
Meanwhile Daniel Amarteye Anim has urged that the government commits to utilising money borrowed from international market to be channeled into interest yielding ventures.
In his view, this will provide a more flexible mechanism to reap enough interests and quicken the repayment plan for the government.
“I am looking at a time where we could devise a strategy where if we raise money through a bond from the international community it should be invested into sectors that the investment itself can generate sufficient inflows to meet our repayment obligations as and when they arise or mature,” he added.
Ghana issued its first Euro bond, a 10-year Eurobond in 2007.
The issue, which raised US$750 million from investors at a coupon of 8.5 percent, made Ghana the first nation in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa to borrow from international capital markets.
In 2013, the country used US$250 million of the 1 billion dollar Eurobond it issued to retire part of the 2007 issue.
Ghana also used US$100 million of the 2014 and US$216 million of the 2016 Bond proceeds to augment the retirement (As at end 2016, Ghana retired approximately US$550 million) of the 2007 Bond, through a liability management or exchange plan for its new and old bonds.
