The Former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo on Friday, February 10, 2023 joined fellow pensioners to picket at the Ministry of Finance to protest inclusion in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
The pensioners have been asking the government to totally exempt them from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
Since Monday, the retirees have been picketing at the Ministry to make their demands known to the government.
According to them, they will not stop until they hear something positive from the government.
On the fifth day, Sophia Akuffo was seen sitting at the ministry with a placard with the inscription, “We use our bond yields to pay our rents, medical bills, electricity bills, and water bills.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with the media, Sophia Akuffo said she was ready to drag the government to court if that is what it wants, stating clearly that she can do it alone even if nobody wants to go with her.
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Background.
The Minister of Finance had announced that the government would implement a voluntary DEP as part of measures to reduce the debt burden and give the government some breathing space to deal with the fiscal challenges facing the country.
With the DEP, domestic bondholders will see big drops in their interest rates and their investments will be held for longer.
Investors in dollar-denominated Eurobonds will also have to contend with both interest rate cuts and the loss of up to 30 percent of the principal amounts invested.
In addition, domestic debt investors will be asked to exchange their existing securities for new ones that may offer a zero coupon in the first year, five per cent in the second and 10 per cent in the third year.
Holders of short-term debt securities, comprising Treasury bills of 91 days, 182 days, and 364 days, will be excluded from the DEP.
Figures from the Central Securities Depository show that pension funds hold six percent of the government’s domestic debt.
Since its introduction, some groups, organisations and entities including the Christian Council, labour Unions, have kicked against the debt exchange programme.
The pensioners have also mounted pressure on the government to exclude them from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
Unfortunately, the government could not accept the demands entirely.
Addressing some retired bondholders who went to picket at the Ministry of Finance on Monday, February 6, 2023, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, appealed to individual bondholders to accept the revised terms from the government to complete the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and pave the way for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
He said the five-year maturity on offer was favourable given that a third of them held instruments with maturities of more than 12 years, despite an interest rate cut to 15% from an average of 18.5%.
He mentioned that the current term is the best the government can offer individual bondholders.
According to the government, those under the age of 59 are being offered a 10% coupon rate.
“Look into your heart and ask whether what has been offered is so injurious versus your contribution to our economy,” the Finance Minister told five of the protesters after a larger group had left their earlier demonstration.
“Hand on heart I feel (the deal offered) is good for you and good for the nation,” he added.
Meanwhile, the pensioners embarked on the picketing until today, February 10, 2023, in the hopes of hearing a better response from the government.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
