The Finance Ministry has cautioned individual holders of eligible bonds who refuse to take the Amended and Restated Exchange Memorandum under the Debt Exchange Programme provided by the State that they will find it difficult to obtain judgement against the Government of Ghana.
Under a caption labelled “Enforcement of Civil Liabilities” in the 58 page Amended and Restated Exchange Memorandum to individual bondholders, Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta emphasised that since Ghana is a sovereign state, any legal action taken by bondholders against the country would be difficult to materialise.
“The Republic of Ghana is a sovereign state. Consequently, it may be difficult for Eligible Holders of Eligible Bonds to obtain or realise awards against the Republic”.
“The Republic has submitted to the jurisdiction of the courts of Ghana and waived any immunity from the jurisdiction (including sovereign immunity) of such courts in connection with any action arising out of or based upon the Invitation to Exchange or any securities issued under the Invitation to Exchange brought by any holder of such securities,” it added.
The statement, however, waived immunity from execution or attachment in respect of certain of its assets under its “Terms and Conditions of the New Bonds—Governing Law, Submission to Jurisdiction and Waiver of Immunity”.
The statement clarified that the Exchange Memorandum includes forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties.
“While the Republic believes that any assumptions herein are reasonable, it cautions that it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and, of course, it is impossible to anticipate all factors that could affect the Republic’s general political and economic conditions”, the statement warned.
Meanwhile, Mr Ofori-Atta, stated that the ‘Invitation to Exchange’ to individual bondholders under the Debt Exchange does not embed any principal haircut on eligible bonds.
According to him, it rather involves an exchange for new Government of Ghana bonds with a coupon that steps up to rates ranging from 9.15% to 10.65% (depending on the specific series of new bonds) as soon as 2025 and longer average maturity.