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Ghana sold GH¢5.29 billion ($1.16bn) worth of long-term bonds on Thursday, dominated by re-openings of previous bond issues by the major commodity exporter to help restructure its high public debt, lead arrangers said.

Ghana is grappling with budget deficits, inflation and a volatile local currency, all of which have forced the government to sign a $918 credit deal with the International Monetary Fund.

Apart from a new five-year paper, sold at a yield of 17.6 per cent, the West African country reopened existing bonds with maturities of seven, 10 and 15 years, the joint book-runners Barclays Bank, Stanbic Bank and brokers Strategic African Securities said in a statement.

The government of President Nana Akufo-Addo, who took power in January, is trying to rebalance the country’s finances and narrow the public debt, which stood at ¢138.9 billion or 68.6 per cent of GDP as of the end of September.

A source close to the transaction said nearly half of Thursday’s total sale consisted of treasury bills that were restructured into long-term bonds.

“In effect, only about half of the cumulative ¢5.29 billion accepted was fresh borrowing. The other half is only converting existing treasury bill investments into longer maturities,” the source said.

Settlement for the bonds is due today.