Ghana's Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) has saved the country approximately US$12 billion. This was announced by Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam. The programme helped restore fiscal order. It was a crucial step for Ghana's economy.
The DDEP began on December 5, 2022. It aimed to ease Ghana's severe economic crisis. High debt levels meant interest payments took too much government money. International markets had also stopped lending to Ghana. The DDEP asked domestic bondholders to swap old bonds for new ones. These new bonds had longer repayment times and lower interest rates.
Ghana faced economic problems for years. Growth slowed between 2014 and 2016. This was due to fiscal stress and unstable prices. Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta took office in 2017. Ghana then saw strong growth from 2017 to 2019. This period brought back investor confidence. However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. Global inflation and the war in Ukraine made things worse. By 2022, Ghana's debt was nearly 89 percent of its GDP. Interest payments consumed a huge part of revenue.
The DDEP faced strong opposition. Pensioners and individual bondholders feared losing money. The programme was changed to include 12 different bond exchanges. The first phase finished in February 2023. Despite the difficulties, the fiscal results were important. The weighted average interest rate fell from 21.2 percent to 12.7 percent. The average time to maturity for debt increased from 2.7 years to 6.2 years. The public debt-to-GDP ratio dropped from 73.1 percent to 66.4 percent. The DDEP itself lowered Ghana's debt ratio by nearly 10 percentage points.
This debt restructuring was key to further financial recovery. It unlocked the IMF's US$3 billion Extended Credit Facility in May 2023. It also helped Ghana restructure its US$13 billion in Eurobonds in 2024. These actions rebuilt trust in Ghana's financial path. The DDEP, though painful, helped prevent a much larger economic collapse.