Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the information minister, has made it clear that the president's guarantees of no haircuts with regard to money invested in bonds cover solely the principals for the time being as Ghana considers some debt restructuring.
"From what I gather, no principals will be involved. No teachers would have haircuts, Mr. Nkrumah declared.
However, the minister continued, "The debt sustainability strategy is yet to be fully announced."
"We will have clarity on the form that the debt restructuring will take," he added. "When they are finished with the rest of the strategy, and they come out and do a comprehensive statement."
The government's discussions for a $3 billion bailout with the International Monetary Fund have been accompanied by worries about debt restructuring.
Mr. Nkrumah stated, "I think we should allow them time to come out and publish the full specifics of the debt sustainability strategy." He then went on to discuss the future of interest expected on the principles.
The minister added that the president's guarantees, which came in the form of a speech on Ghana's economic problems, were a response to rumors that leaders would be getting haircuts.
In the upcoming weeks, Ghana's discussions with the IMF mission are anticipated to pick back up as the government seeks to control its almost GHS 400 million debt.
The president stated that moving forward, in order to address the debt crisis, the government expects to lower the entire public debt-to-GDP ratio to about 55 in present value terms by 2028, with the servicing of external debt set at not more than 18% of annual revenue also by that year.
To be eligible for the $3 billion in IMF assistance, the government is anticipated to have to restructure the debt to make it more manageable.
According to recent statements from the Finance Ministry, an agreement with the IMF will be reached as soon as possible.
The administration is confident that an agreement will be reached before the 2023 budget is read next month.