Ratings
agency
Moody’s
has
indicated
a
potential
upgrade
for
Ghana’s
credit
rating
following
the
country’s
Eurobond
exchange.
The
New
York-based
firm
announced
that
it
has
completed
a
periodic
review
of
Ghana’s
ratings,
which
include
long-term
issuer
ratings
of
Caa3
for
local
currency
and
Ca
for
foreign
currency.
These
ratings
reflect
the
government’s
ongoing
debt
restructuring
under
the
G20
common
framework
initiated
in
December
2022.
On
June
24,
2024,
the
Ministry
of
Finance
announced
an
agreement
in
principle
with
bondholders’
representatives
on
restructuring
$13.1
billion
of
Eurobond
debt,
accounting
for
21%
of
Ghana’s
total
debt
in
2023.
Under
this
agreement,
bondholders
would
forgo
around
$4.7
billion
in
principal
without
state-contingent
triggers.
This
agreement
followed
a
Memorandum
of
Understanding
(MoU)
on
June
12
between
the
Finance
Ministry
and
the
Official
Creditor
Committee
(OCC)
to
restructure
$5.4
billion
of
official
sector
external
debt.
The
IMF
confirmed
on
June
28
that
both
restructurings
are
consistent
with
its
programme
parameters.
The
Ministry
of
Finance
has
since
announced
that
Ghana’s
debt
treatment
with
the
Eurobond
holders
is
consistent
with
the
Comparability
of
Treatment
principle.
Following
this
development,
Moody’s
has
indicated
that
all
ratings
are
likely
to
be
aligned
at
a
higher
level
within
the
Caa-rating
category,
considering
the
liquidity
constraints
typically
following
a
default
event.