Ghana seals debt restructuring deal, staves off default

Ghana had reached a deal with bondholders that will forgo nearly $5 billion in a sovereign debt restructuring deal that would help the country avoid default.

The deal marks a key step in the country’s quest to restructure its $13 billion debt that left the country on the brink of financial collapse.

Bondholders including Abrdn, Neuberger Berman, Greylock Capital Management and Amundi will give up $4.7bn of their original claim, Ghana’s government and a committee representing the foreign creditors said in statements on Monday.

The deal is the latest sovereign debt restructuring launched under a G20-approved “common framework”.

Bondholders also finally voted to approve a restructuring by Zambia last month under the framework, almost four years after the southern African nation defaulted.

Double-digit inflation and disruptions in the country’s gold and oil exports left the economy in uncharted territory on the verge of collapse.