Govt to borrow GH¢17.8bn in 3 months

The government of Ghana is seeking to borrow GH¢17.8 billion between May and August 2020.

According to the Issuance Calendar, GH¢15.8 billion is to rollover or settle maturities and the remaining GH¢2.03 billion is a fresh issuance to finance government projects.

The 91-Day Treasury bill dominates the issuance calendar with about GH¢8.9 billion expected to be raised.

A total of GH¢1.85 billion and GH¢1.75 billion are expected to be raised from the issuance of the 1-Year Note and 182-Day Treasury bill.

7-Year, 10-Year, and 20-Year bonds will also be issued during the three months.

GHS1 billion, GH¢800 million and GH¢287.87 million are expected to be issued in July and August 2020, respectively.

Per the calendar, the government said it aims to build benchmark bonds through the issuance of the instruments.

The 91-day and 182-day bonds will be issued weekly while the 364-day bill will be issued bi-weekly.

Twos-year up to 10-year securities will be issued through the book-building method.

The issuance of the 20-year bond as a shelf offering will be re-opened based on investors request and on market conditions.

The government said: “It is our expectation that this 2020 June to August Calendar meets the requirements of market participants. We assure all stakeholders and the general public that we continue to strive for greater predictability and transparency in the domestic bond market.”

Ghana’s total public debt increased by US$300 million in March 2020 to US$43.4 billion, the March 2020 Bank of Ghana Summary of Economic and Financial Data revealed.

The debt was more than half the total size of the country’s economy.

In cedi terms, the nation’s debt jumped from GH¢228.4 billion in February 2020 to GH¢236.1 billion in March 2020, about 59.3% of Gross Domestic Product.

The external debt component was US$22.9 billion (GH¢124.8 billion), representing 31.4% of the total debt.

The domestic debt component was GH¢111.3 billion, representing 28% of GDP.

Interest payments are expected to hit GH¢23 billion by the end of December 2020.

Source: Class FM