Debt exchange extension ends today

The Government’s one week extension of the National Debt Exchange Offer (NDX) ends today.

The successful implementation of the NDX is critical for the Government to get board-level approval for the loan it is seeking from the International Monetary Fund.

Last week, the Government announced the extension to allow more bondholders time to take up the offer.

At that time, the Finance Ministry reported that  the debt exchange offer had received 97 per cent support from bondholders.

The ministry was in discussions with the remaining three per cent to get them on board.

The NDX, which is a swap of existing bonds for others with lower interest rates and longer repayment periods will see the government saving billions of dollars.

On February 15, Jamaica reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF.

A staff-level agreement means that staff members from the IMF and the negotiating team in Jamaica have signed off on the key aspects of the economic programme, which must now be presented to the IMF Executive Board.

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