By Jorgelina do Rosario and Karin Strohecker
LONDON (Reuters) – Some holders of Ghana’s international bonds are close to formalizing a creditor group, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday.
The creditors have chosen Rothschild & Co and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as advisers, the sources added, asking not to be named because the discussions are private.
“The group should be announced soon. We are getting together to have an unified voice from the creditor side,” one of the people said.
The hiring of the financial and legal advisers has been previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The government still has not said whether it will move forward to rework its overseas debt. Ghana’s Finance Ministry spokesperson declined to comment.
The West African nation had reached out to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financing aid in July, despite previous pledges from the government to never again seek its assistance.
An IMF staff mission visited Ghana in late September to kick off talks on a lending programme, with the finance ministry saying in late October it expected another visit in weeks to come.
Ghana’s consumer price inflation rate rose to 40.4% in October, and the local currency, the cedi, is seen under pressure in the week ahead amid rising corporate demand and limited dollar inflows.
The cedi, trading at 14.00 to the dollar, has lost more than half its value in 2022 and is Africa’s worst-performing currency this year.
(Reporting by Jorgelina do Rosario and Karin Strohecker, additional reporting by Rachel Savage; Editing by Bill Berkrot)