In the midst of an economic crisis, Ghana appeals to banks for debt restructuring

Ghana and banks have agreed to restructure 15 billion Ghana cedi ($1.36 billion) in locally issued US dollar bonds and cocoa bills, according to three people involved with the discussions.To fulfill an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deadline and focus on talks with international creditors, the West African government is seeking new criteria for domestic debt restructuring by the end of June. With 85% of eligible bondholders participating in the first phase of Ghana's domestic debt exchange completed in February, the country now requires new terms for another 123 billion Ghana cedi ($11.18 billion) to be eligible for the next installment of a $3 billion IMF loan to help it deal with its worst economic crisis.The debt includes obligations to the central bank, domestic dollar bonds, cocoa bills, and pension funds. To satisfy the short-term liquidity requirements of the nation's cocoa regulator Cocobod, cocoa bills were created. Two sources in the finance ministry and one in a bank that owns part of the bonds said that the government and the lenders had reached an agreement to convert two term loans with new, lower interest rates, totaling 6.9 billion Ghana cedis in domestic U.S. dollar bonds.