Salaries of Executive need haircuts; not pension funds – Ben Boakye

Policy analyst, Ben Boakye has joined calls for the exemption of pension funds from government’s proposed debt exchange program.

He believes, the salaries of members of the executive should suffer some cuts and not the meagre pensions of individuals.

“In this critical moment, we cannot have the public servants at the top, that’s the Ministers, CEOs not seeing the kind of haircut that they need to have but rather push it on pensions of the suffering masses”, he said.

Ben Boakye was speaking as a part of a presentation during Ghana’s debt restructuring Forum organised by Citi TV/Citi FM in collaboration with ACEP and IMANI Africa.

Some people have experienced haircuts as part of government’s efforts to sustain the country’s debt levels.

Government launched the Debt Exchange Programme to reduce the country’s debt burden.

Under the program, there are fears the government will touch pension funds during the debt restructuring.

Many worker groups have expressed their opposition with some threatening public sector shutdown if the government fails to exclude pensions under the program.

Some institutions within the financial sector have also rejected the debt exchange.

Mr. Boakye maintains the huge disagreement is indicative that, those who made Ghana a highly distressed country pay for the consequence.

“We are in a situation where the salary of one CEO can actually pay for the feeding of 300,000 children under the school feeding program. The worst part is that no Minister or Executive’s child will smell it. That is not the society we need to build. We need to make sure that, these cuts that have to happen are deep and really affect those who brought us where we are today.

Ghana’s total debt jumped from GH¢120 billion to GH¢450 billion within six years.

The government had sought to use the debt exchange programme to make room for breathing space on its fiscal commitments.