The Pensioner Bondholders Forum has threatened to picket at the Ministry of Finance on January 23, 2023, if government fails to exempt them from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
The Forum said it had written to the District Commander of the Ghana Police Service at the Ministries in Accra to notify the police of their intended action.
Dr Adu A. Antwi, the Convener, Pensioner Bondholders Forum, speaking at a press briefing in Accra, said the Forum had petitioned the government to exempt its members from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
Dr Antwi said the Forum on January 13, 2023, presented a petition to Mr Ken Ofori Atta, the Finance Minister, for the exclusion of pensioners and requested a meeting with him, but had not gotten any response.
“We have also petitioned key stakeholders in the country, including the Speaker of Parliament, the Council of State, the National House of Chiefs , the Christian Council of Ghana, the Office of the Chief Imam, the National Peace Council, and the Catholic Bishop’s Conference, about our displeasure on the issue,” he said.
Dr Antwi said the executive of the Forum had requested to meet Mr Ofori-Atta for discussion before the deadline of the Debt Exchange Programme.
He assured the pensioners that the Forum would engage with the government to address the issue, stressing, “We are not tendering in our bonds.”
The Convener said if the Government failed to exempt pensioners’ bonds, it would have serious consequences on (Pensioners) their lives.
Government last year announced Ghana’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme to invite holders of bonds to voluntarily exchange approximately GH¢137 billion domestic notes and bonds of the Republic, including ESLA and Daakye for a package of new bonds.
As a result, existing domestic bonds were to be exchanged as of December 1, 2022, for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032, and 2037.
The annual coupon on all these new bonds will be set at zero per cent in 2023, five per cent in 2024 and 10 per cent from 2025 until maturity.
Coupon payments will be semi-annual.
Meanwhile, a statement on the Ministry of Finance website Monday said the deadline for the Domestic Debt Exchange had been extended to January 31, 2023 from January 16, 2023.
The Government of Ghana, pending further stakeholder engagement with institutional and individual investors, has extended the deadline for its Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) Programme to January 31.
After the first announcement of the Programme on December 5, 2022, the government entered into advanced discussions with multiple stakeholders.
The discussions resulted in the amendment of the terms of the offer, which was announced on December 24, 2022 to expire on January 16, 2023.
However, that deadline has been rescheduled for January 31, 2023.
“Building consensus is key to a successful economic recovery for Ghana,” a tweet on the official twitter handle of the Office of Ghana’s Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, confirmed on Monday, January 16.
Meanwhile, a press release issued by the Finance Ministry said the Government had structured the DDE programme as a “voluntary exercise in order to shield domestic bondholders”.
“We will, however, use this period to further engage with stakeholders, especially individual bondholders to mitigate any adverse impact, while we all contribute to overcoming our challenges,” the Ministry staated.
According to the release, important discussions were ongoing with financial institutions, notably in relation to forbearance measures, accounting treatment, as well as the structure and parameters of the Ghana Financial Stability Fund (GFSF).
The Ministry explained that a successful DDE was critical to advance the nation’s economic recovery process, therefore, “it is in our common interest to make it work”.
GNA
