The Bank of Ghana says it has agreed to allow commercial banks to use Cocobod's deposits/placements at the various banks to reduce the cash flow challenges on retail holders of cocoa bills, who may not want a rollover of their investments.
A statement issued in Accra said the decision followed a meeting on Friday, January 20, 2023, among the banks, Cocobod and BoG, during which it was agreed that all institutional investors will roll over their maturing cocoa bill for Tender 6155.
The meeting was held after the Bank of Ghana (BOG) failed to reissue on behalf of Cocobod a new six-month Cocoa bill to raise funds to cover a six-month Cocoa bill with a face value of GH¢940.42 million, which matured on Thursday, January 19, 2023.
The Bank said it went through the usual processes but, unfortunately, the auction failed and was severely undersubscribed, resulting in a shortfall of GH¢855.42million.
The statement said the Cocoa bills, like the Bank of Ghana bills, were designed as instruments to be held just by Financial Institutions.
It said unfortunately, it had come to the notice of the BoG that some financial institutions sold their instruments to their retail clients.
The statement said Cocobod had assured them that the outlook for the 2023 crop season was good, and Cocoa purchasing was ahead of last year.
“We, therefore, expect that this short term cash flow challenges facing Cocoa Board will be resolved soon to enable Cocobod to meet its obligations to investors,” the statement added.
