The Illusion of No Haircuts: Ghana’s Proposed Domestic Debt Exchange Programme is Worse than a 100% Haircut on Principal
Introduction On Monday, 5th December 2022 the Republic of Ghana announced that it was inviting eligible bond holders to exchange approximately GHS137.3 billion of domestic bonds for a package of new bonds. The domestic debt exchange (DDE) programme is part of a more comprehensive agenda to restore debt sustainability. The government has made further amendments […]
2023 Tesah Budget Review
Budget 2023 – Fiscal Spending is not Restraining Enough and Revenue Target Remains Ambitious
The minister of finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, presented to parliament the budget statement and economic policy of the government of Ghana for the 2023 financial year on 24th November 2022. Given the challenges in the past year, we expected the 2023 budget statement to be prudent in public spending and conservative with revenue estimates. However, the […]
A Currency Board or Fixed Exchange Rate is Not a Solution to Ghana’s Depreciating Cedi
This is an academic article. The authors are solely responsible for the content of this publication. It does not reflect the views of Tesah Capital or any institution with which the authors are affiliated. We are grateful to Tesah Capital for providing a publication outlet. Introduction The Ghana cedi has depreciated markedly this year against […]
2023 Budget Must be Transparent and Have Realistic Targets
Ghana is currently experiencing one of the most challenging economic times in recent years. The difficulties confronting the country as it heads into the 2023 fiscal year include anemic economic growth, high unemployment, elevated inflation, severe currency depreciation, deteriorating gross international reserves and a looming public debt crisis. These put the finance minister in a […]
Ghana Sovereign Debt Restructuring
Bank of Ghana Delivers Another Policy Rate Hike – What Ghanaian Families and Business Should know
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on October 6, 2022, decided to increase the monetary policy rate by 250 basis points to 24.5%. This follows an increase in the key interest rate by 300 basis points after the emergency MPC meeting held in August 2022. In the MPC press release, […]
Whither to from Here: Implications of the Government of Ghana Sovereign Debt Restructuring
Introduction A recent Bloomberg news article(1) has hinted that the Government of Ghana is considering restructuring its sovereign debt in the wake of negotiations with the IMF regarding the sustainability of the country’s debts. The report indicated that local debt was more likely to be restructured compared to the country’s external debt. If the reports […]
Inflation Update
The headline inflation in August was 33.9% an increase of 2.2 percentage points from the 31.70% recorded in the month of July making it the highest in 21years. In addition to this, the 33.9% inflation recorded in August accounted for a 15 consecutive monthly rise in inflation. The August inflation window recorded upward pressures from […]
Bank of Ghana Responds to High Inflation and Cedi Depreciation with a 300 Basis Point Increase in the Policy Rate
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on August 17, 2022, decided to increase the policy rate by 300 basis points to 22%. The decision at the extraordinary MPC meeting follows last month’s decision to pause on the recent interest hikes. In the MPC press release, the committee attributed the policy […]
