The cedi extended its gains against major trading currencies last week raising hopes that the local currency is beginning to steady ahead of a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) later this quarter.

It appreciated against the US dollar, the euro and the British pound last week to extend the positive run over the last fortnight.

The government launched a domestic debt exchange programme (DDEP) in December in which it requires investors in its cedi debts to swap their existing holdings for new ones that have a maximum maturity of five years.

The offer is optional, the government said in a January 31 release that also announced the extension of the programme for the fourth time in a row.

That release also revised the terms of the debt swap in response to protests and resistance from business associations and individual bondholders that have constituted themselves into groups.

The programme was also extended on Tuesday, February7 to February10 over what was described as administrative glitches.

The debt swap is an urgent necessity to make the country’s debt sustainable, which is a prerequisite to sealing the US$3 billion bailout.

An IMF staff-level agreement was received in December.

Source: graphiconline.com