ACCRA, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Ghana has submitted debt restructuring scenarios to bondholders which include a haircut of 30% to 40% on principal, a coupon of not more than 5%, and a final maturity of not more than 20 years, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said on Monday.
The country's sovereign dollar bonds suffered sharp falls across the curve following the news, with some down more than 1 cent in the dollar, reflecting some investors' disappointment with the proposal.
The West African country, which produces gold, cocoa and oil, is in talks with bilateral and commercial creditors to restructure its debts during its worst economic crisis in a generation, having been locked out of international capital markets as it struggles with spiralling domestic debt costs.
Ghana is aiming to restructure $20 billion out of total external debt that was about $30 billion at the end of 2022, according to a government presentation to investors.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) hopes Ghana will reach a debt restructuring agreement with bilateral creditors within six to eight weeks, an official at the Fund said.
"We are now intensifying efforts with international bondholders and we expect significant progress in the coming week," Ofori-Atta said at an investors' presentation, adding that he hoped to conclude discussions before the end of the year.
"As a nation, we also want to show the country's commitment to burden-sharing in debt restructuring," he added
Ofori-Atta said he was open to any instrument aligning with the IMF's Debt Sustainability Analysis, including state-contingent debt instruments (SCDIs), which allow for adapting payouts based on varying economic outcomes.
"These instruments have been used in previous cases and they could be useful bridges for the gap for creditors with divergent views on the recovery path of our country's debt," he said. (Reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Jan Harvey, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Bill Berkrot)
