—- Starts With ¢611.94 million In July-September
The Akufo Addo administration plans to issue bonds amounting to GHC23.230 billion beginning this month with the borrowing of Ghc611.94 million between July and September.
This is according to the Issuance Calendar from the Finance Ministry which actually pales the GHC 2 billion the government had earlier planned to raise between June and August 2021.
About GHC22.618 billion of the GHC 23.230 billion that government wants to borrow is to rollover maturities.
The new borrowing is coming at a time when the country’s debt is steadily heading towards 81% by end of the year according to concerned experts, including from the IMF.
However, with the country’s public debt increasing by GHC 13 billion to hit ¢304.6 billion in March 2021, the government has been claiming that the World Bank and IMF’s assessment that the debt to GDP ratio, as of 2020 was 78% even though the government had claimed it was 76.1%.
Meanwhile, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been accusing the government of deliberately fixating on borrowing because companies of Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, Databank Financial Services and that of Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Adu Boahen BlackStars Brokerage, have been hired as Transaction Advisors to the government for all those borrowings.
Per plans, the government wants to mobilise Ghc11.1billion from the 91-day Treasury bill and other short-term securities, a move that is likely to crowd out the private sector.
Then, a 2-year bond will follow to raise GHC4.3 billion, whilst GHC2.78 billion will be mobilized from the issuance of the 182-day T-bills.
The government will also issue ¢1.0 billion 15-year bond and GHC1.8 billion 10-year bond.
The highest borrowing for the year will come in September 2021, in which it is expected to raise GHC 9.35 billion. In August, the government will borrow GHC5.78 billion.
The new funds are expected to finance government projects outlined in the 2021 Budget