Accra: The Government has firmly dismissed assertions that it was able to settle a GHS 6 billion payment to domestic bondholders due to funds allegedly left by the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration. These claims were refuted by Mr. Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the Presidential Spokesman and Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, who addressed the Presidential Press Corps at the seat of Government. According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Ofosu stated that the narrative presented by the previous NPP administration, suggesting that the Mahama Administration could fulfill debt obligations because of buffers left behind by them, was completely unfounded. The Minister emphasized that President Mahama had issued a directive to the Ministry of Finance to settle maturing coupons of Ghanaian bondholders who experienced significant reductions under the domestic debt exchange program. Mr. Ofosu further elaborated that on February 17th, the Finance Minister released GHS 6 billion to bondholders follo wing President Mahama's directive. He countered claims from NPP officials, who suggested that these payments were possible only because of funds left by the preceding administration, by challenging them to provide concrete evidence of such buffers. He explained that what the NPP referred to as a "sinking fund" was actually the Debt Service Reserve Account, which comprises both cedi and dollar components. Mr. Ofosu presented account statements showing that the last transaction in this account under the NPP occurred on October 22, 2024, with a balance of $64,387, insufficient to cover the GHS 6 billion payments. Highlighting further discrepancies, Mr. Ofosu mentioned that on January 31, 2055, under the NDC government, $96,915,182.00 was deposited into the account, clearly indicating that the funds did not originate from any NPP buffers. He underscored the fact that, contrary to NPP claims, the account movements from January 23, 2025, onwards were initiated by the current government to meet domestic debt oblig ations. Mr. Ofosu declared the NPP's claims as false, emphasizing that the available evidence clearly demonstrated the government's independent actions in settling the bondholder payments. He concluded by stating that as of February 17, 2025, the account held a balance of $9,217,537,727.67, serving as a buffer for future obligations in July and August.
