The Ministry of Finance has fully settled its Eurobond obligation of $700 million for this year ahead of schedule.
The payment last Thursday consisted of $525.2 million in principal repayments and $174.8 million in interest payments.
With this latest payment, Ghana has paid a total of $2.1 billion to Eurobond holders since January last year, in accordance with the terms of the Eurobond Debt Exchange Programme, part of the country’s debt treatment programme.
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The payment was made through the government’s planned financing arrangements without undue pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
The settlement reduces Ghana’s outstanding Eurobond debt, strengthens investor confidence, and demonstrates the government’s commitment to prudent debt management and macroeconomic stability.
The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, yesterday gave an assurance that the ministry would continue to implement sound public financial management practices to ensure the timely servicing of Ghana’s debt obligations.
The Ministry of Finance expressed its gratitude to the people of Ghana for their continued patience, support and confidence.
Background
On Tuesday, December 30, 2025, the government settled $709 million Eurobond obligation, marking another major milestone in the country’s ongoing economic recovery and debt-management efforts.
It was an addition to two earlier payments of $349.52 million each made last year.
That payment, which represented the total disbursements to Eurobond holders in 2025, brought the tally to $1.4 billion under the country’s restructuring memorandum.
That settlement was made using funds from government cash buffers, underscoring the renewed strength of Ghana’s liquidity and fiscal management position.
The Ministry of Finance maintained that the successful settlement reaffirmed the country’s credibility as a sovereign borrower and signalled the government’s firm commitment to honouring its external debt obligations in a transparent, predictable and disciplined manner.
The government, at the beginning of the year, promised that it would build on the achievement by intensifying reforms in domestic revenue mobilisation, public financial management and public debt management, while continuing to strengthen fiscal buffers to sustainably finance national development priorities.
DDEP
On December 4, 2022, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government launched the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) in a bid to restructure domestic bonds of about GH¢137 billion.
It later launched the Eurobond Debt Exchange Programme in 2023.
The extensive restructuring of domestic debt and Eurobonds was a key component of and a precondition for admission to the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion economic bailout to address unsustainable debt levels, which were hitting more than 85 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.
The DDEP became necessary as debt servicing was, at the time, absorbing more than half of total government revenues and almost 70 per cent of tax revenues.
The total public debt stock, including that of State-Owned Enterprises and all, had also at the time exceeded 100 per cent of GDP.
The DDEP was therefore announced to restore the country’s capacity to service debt.
The initial terms of the programme were, however, met with stiff opposition, forcing the government to withdraw it and replace it with 12 new ones at a reduced coupon rate of nine per cent and a haircut of about 30 per cent.
The government revised the terms of DDEP for individual bondholders who wished to participate in the programme.
Per the new terms, individual bondholders below age 59 were offered instruments with a maximum maturity of five years, instead of 15 years, and a 10 per cent coupon rate.
All retirees (including those retiring in 2023) were offered instruments with a maximum maturity of five years, instead of 15 years, and a 15 per cent coupon rate.
The Ministry of Finance also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Organised Labour on December 22, 2022, and proffered a separate arrangement with Organised Labour and Pension Fund Trustees in accordance with the debt management programme.
In the end, the DDEP was described as a success, as the government swapped old bonds valued at GH¢82 billion for 12 new ones at reduced coupon rates and longer tenors after further engagements with bondholders.
The second phase of the debt treatment exercise was Eurobond – dollar-denominated bonds issued in the international capital market – as well as bilateral (countries that lent to the country) and some multilateral debts.
Payments
Aside from honouring the Eurobond (external) obligations, the government also paid GH¢9.69 billion to cedi-denominated domestic bondholders on August 19, 2025, bringing the total payout under the programme last year alone to GH¢19.4 billion.
The payment marked the sixth coupon settlement under the programme and represented the second full cash payment, with no Payment-In-Kind component.
To further back its promise of repayments on schedule, the government has rolled out two new safety nets — a Cedi Sinking Fund and a US Dollar Sinking Fund — to serve as financial cushions for repaying bonds maturing in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
As of mid-2025, the DDEP had reportedly cost the nation approximately GH¢61.7 billion, significantly impacting the financial sector, banks and individual investors.
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