By Christian Akorlie and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila
ACCRA (Reuters) -Ghana is reopening a debt exchange that was originally settled in February for another 12.9 billion cedis ($1.1 billion) of local bonds, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
The terms of the new invitation are identical to those of the February 2023 exchange, which closed with an 85% participation rate of “relevant” bonds, the ministry said in statement.
The exchanges are part of efforts by Ghana to restructure both domestic and external debt – a condition set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion bailout secured in May.
In August, the finance ministry said it had completed a separate swap of 95% of local debt held by pension funds, which had been excluded from the February exchange after labour unions threatened to strike.
Ghana defaulted on most of its $30 billion external debt in December, after its currency tumbled and inflation and debt servicing costs soared.
It is targeting $10.5 billion of external debt service relief from 2023-2026, as it negotiates the restructuring of $20 billion of overseas debt with bilateral creditors including China and Paris Club members and international bondholders.
(Reporting by Christian Akorlie and Maxwell Akalaare AdombilaWriting by Sofia Christensen and Rachel Savage; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Toby Chopra)