Pensioners who have purchased government bonds will protest at the Finance Ministry today, Monday, February 6, 2023, to stress their requests for their bonds to be exempted from the government's domestic debt swap scheme.
Pensioners in the Pensioner Bondholders Forum are disappointed that the government has turned a deaf ear to their plea for an exception. They feel that include their bonds will have a detrimental influence on their livelihoods.
The invitation for holders of government bonds to participate in the program closes tomorrow, Tuesday, February 7, 2023.
Dr. Adu Anane Antwi, the group's convener, stated that they will continue to picket at the Finance Ministry until their demands are satisfied.
"We are emphasizing our desire for an exemption. That is why we have chosen to congregate at the ministry beginning on Monday. We first told the authorities that we would congregate every working day until our demands were satisfied. But for the time being, we will go there for two days and then decide whether to continue or not based on the reaction we receive from the administration."
In an earlier statement, the group claimed that attempts to get their investment excused from the program had failed, leading to their intention to congregate outside the Finance Ministry until their requests were granted.
"On 10 January 2023, we submitted a petition to the Minister of Finance requesting that all pensioners holding Government Bonds be exempted from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme on the same basis that Pension Funds were exempted from the program, as the program's impact on bondholders will be severe." As of today, we have not received the requested exception. To emphasize our desire, we have informed the police that around 50 of our members want to congregate at the Ministry of Finance's premises from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on every working day commencing Monday, February 6, 2023, until the Minister grants our request."
Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that, despite certain stakeholders' early opposition to the Domestic Debt Exchange plan, the government is progressively gaining the support of everybody.
Nana Akufo-Addo claims that if the scheme is implemented well, Ghana would get balance-of-payments help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by March 2023.
The President made the remarks at a meeting with visiting German Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
"One of the processes in the domestic debt exchange is, regrettably, having some problems, therefore it has not been finalized. "We are looking at the committee as soon as possible to ensure that all stakeholders are effectively involved," he added.