{"id":435040,"date":"2026-02-19T23:23:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/435040\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T23:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:23:14","slug":"ddep-coupon-payments-hit-gh%c2%a256-billion-after-6th-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/435040\/","title":{"rendered":"DDEP coupon payments hit GH\u00a256 billion after 6th settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Minister <\/a>Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson<\/p>\n

Government has now paid more than GH\u00a256billion in coupon obligations under the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), following the latest GH\u00a210billion interest settlement this week.<\/p>\n

The February 2026 payment marks the sixth coupon disbursement since domestic debt restructuring was rolled out in late 2022. It is also the first time government has fully settled a DDEP coupon entirely in cash, without any Payment-In-Kind (PIK) component.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued in Accra, the Ministry of Finance said the GH\u00a210billion payment reflects \u201cstrengthened fiscal capacity and solvency\u201d and underscores the authorities\u2019 commitment to meeting all obligations under the programme.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis payment marks the sixth coupon settlement under the programme and represents the second full cash payment without any Payment-In-Kind component, reflecting strengthened fiscal capacity and solvency,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n

The DDEP was introduced as part of government\u2019s effort to address unsustainable public debt levels and secure support under an IMF-backed stabilisation programme. The initiative involved exchanging short-term domestic securities for longer-tenor bonds with revised coupon structures, easing immediate debt servicing pressures while extending maturities.<\/p>\n

Coupon payments under the programme have been scheduled semi-annually since August 2023. They have typically combined Payment-In-Cash (PIC) components \u2013 transferred directly to bondholders \u2013 and PIK portions credited as additional securities to investors\u2019 Central Securities Depository accounts.<\/p>\n

The inaugural coupon payment in August 2023 totalled GH\u00a28.55billion, comprising GH\u00a25.42billion cash and GH\u00a23.13billion in PIK. The February 2024 settlement rose to GH\u00a29.11billion, split between GH\u00a25.85billion of PIC and GH\u00a23.27billion in PIK.<\/p>\n

By August 2024 the third coupon payment reached GH\u00a29.35billion, with GH\u00a25.98billion paid in cash and GH\u00a23.38 billion issued as PIK instruments. The fourth coupon in February 2025 totalled GH\u00a29.54billion, including GH\u00a26.08billion cash and GH\u00a23.46 billion in PIK.<\/p>\n

In August 2025, government paid GH\u00a29.7billion \u2013 bringing total disbursements for 2025 alone to GH\u00a219.4billion. The latest GH\u00a210billion payment in February 2026 brings cumulative coupon settlements under the programme to more than GH\u00a256billion.<\/p>\n

Officials said the shift toward full cash payments signals improving liquidity conditions and stronger fiscal buffers compared with the restructuring\u2019s early phase, when macroeconomic pressures including high inflation and currency volatility constrained public finances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timely payment sends a strong positive signal to domestic and international investors, reinforces market confidence and is expected to support Ghana\u2019s credit outlook while enhancing stability within the financial sector, including banks and pension funds,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n

Domestic banks, pension funds and asset managers hold significant volumes of restructured government bonds. Regular and predictable coupon servicing is therefore critical to restoring balance sheet stability and rebuilding liquidity in the local bond market after the 2023 restructuring.<\/p>\n

The ministry linked this latest settlement to improving macroeconomic fundamentals, including declining inflation, easing interest rates and relative stability of the cedi. Authorities also cited stronger fiscal buffers and ongoing consolidation measures aimed at restoring debt sustainability over the medium-term.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment remains fully committed to meeting future DDEP obligations, supported by strong buffers, improving macroeconomic fundamentals, declining inflation, lower interest rates and a stable cedi,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n

The cumulative GH\u00a256billion in payments reflects the scale of government\u2019s domestic debt servicing effort since the exchange programme began. While the DDEP reduced immediate rollover risks and extended maturities, sustained cash payments are viewed as essential to rebuilding investor confidence and narrowing risk premiums on government securities.<\/p>\n

The latest full cash settlement is expected to further strengthen sentiment and liquidity in the domestic capital market as government continues its fiscal adjustment and economic recovery under the IMF-supported programme, expected to end May 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson Government has now paid more than GH\u00a256billion in coupon obligations under…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-435040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}