The Minority in Parliament has downplayed the significance of the recent payment of bond coupons by the government, asserting that it is not a new achievement.
Stephen Amoah, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nhyiaeso, made this statement after President John Dramani Mahama’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA).
According to Mr. Amoah, the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government consistently honoured its financial obligations and never defaulted on coupon payments.
The MP emphasized that the government’s fourth payment to domestic bondholders should not be portrayed as an extraordinary accomplishment, as the NPP administration had made similar payments without any defaults.
“The NDC Government recently fulfilled the obligations of the Government of Ghana towards domestic bondholders through the fourth payment of coupons to them. While this is commendable, we in the minority want to assure the people of Ghana that we will ensure investor confidence continues to be sustained in our economy, just as the previous NPP Government did after the debt restructuring exercise,” Mr. Amoah said.
He also reminded the public that the payment of coupons on 18th February 2025 was simply a continuation of the previous government’s commitment, which had consistently met all due payments since August 2023.
“The previous NPP Government did not default in coupon payments and made all payments due to domestic bondholders since August 2023,” he emphasized.
Furthermore, Mr. Amoah outlined that between August 2023 and December 2024, the NPP administration had already disbursed GHS17.25 billion in Payment-In-Cash (PIC) and GHS9.77 billion in Payment-In-Kind (PIK) to bondholders.
Additionally, individual bondholders who did not tender their bonds were also paid GHS515.17 million in coupons during 2023 and 2024, according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the government and the Coalition of Individual Bondholders.
The Minority called on the Mahama administration to maintain transparency and continuity in its financial management to sustain investor confidence in the economy.