The Director of
Business Operations at Dalex Finance, Joe Jackson, says COCOBOD’s invitation
to holders of its short-term debt securities (cocoa bills) to exchange
that for longer-term debt securities is simply an indication of the
government’s inability to pay its debt.
The financial
analyst says the invitation is simply an extension of the recent domestic debt
exchange programme the government undertook.
Speaking in an
interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Mr. Jackson indicated
that per the proposals of the Ghana Cocoa Board, the cocoa bills that were
expected to mature in August will not be paid but extended to 2024.
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“Just like we
did with domestic bonds, the government and COCOBOD have come up to say, we
can’t pay our bills. Remember that the last Cocoa Bill was issued in February
2023 at a rate of 32.22 percent per annum and this was supposed to have been
paid in August, but it will not be paid and any interest and the principal will
be rolled up into one figure.”
He also
explained that payment of the interest on those bills will be spread over five
years to provide a brief relief for the government.
“Let’s say you
have Cocoa Bills worth GH¢68 and interest worth about GH¢32 which adds up to
GH¢100, 5 percent of that will be paid in 2024, 20 percent in 2025, 25 percent
in 2026, 25 percent in 2027, and 25 percent in 2028 which means that the monies
that you should have received this year plus interest, will be spread over the
five years starting in 2024. This is another haircut.”
He further
slammed COCOBOD for derailing from its original mandate thereby being unable to
pay its debts.
“This is truly a
COCOBOD problem. COCOBOD has badly managed its affairs, and it hasn’t even
published its accounts since 2020, and it is the one that took the money
supposedly to purchase cocoa but unfortunately doing other things that are not
in its original remit.”
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