70% Of Tax Money Is Used To Pay Off Debt: Ken Ofori Atta Reveals

The debt exchange program’s implementation, as stated in the 2023 budget statement, has been defended by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

The huge difficulties with debt servicing, he claimed, had made the initiative imperative.

On Monday, December 5, he announced the program’s launch in Accra and stated that debt servicing was absorbing “nearly all government revenue and also 70% of tax revenue.”

“Which is why we are announcing this to restore our capacity to service debt,”  he highlighted.

He explained that under the debt exchange program, “domestic bondholders will be asked to exchange their instruments for new ones.”

In addition, he iterated that, “Existing domestic bonds as of 1st December will be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, and 2037.”

“The annual coupons on all of these bonds will be set at 0 % in 2023, 5% in 2024, and 10% from 2025 until maturity.

“Coupon payments will be semi-annual” he added.

Check Out His full statement below:

Conclusion

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