Pensioner bondholders return to Finance Ministry to picket over DDEP

Members of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum today picketed at the Finance Ministry for the 4th time to demand a total exemption of their investments from the Domestic Debt Exchange programme.

Government has proposed a 15% coupon rate but the group of about 30 retirees amidst singing patriotic Ghanaian songs told Citi News that they will not accept any haircuts on their investments as their livelihoods depend on the proceeds from these investments.

One pensioner bondholder told Citi News, “the only term we understand now is a total exemption. They exempted pension funds so we the retirees will return to picket again.”

“I will come and sleep here because the investments I made are what I used to pay for my drugs”, another added.

Updates

Government has extended the window for bondholders to complete tender processes as part of the controversial domestic debt exchange programme.

The deadline for signing up for the programme expired today, Tuesday, February 7, 2023, but government in a late-night press statement said some of the bondholders faced “technical glitches as they tried to complete the online tender process” hence the window to enable such persons to complete the process.

It has thus given such persons three days to do that.

“As a result, Government is providing bondholders with a window to complete processes for tendering their bonds, in response to the terms of Exchange as amended pursuant to the 2nd Amended and Restated Exchange Memorandum. This window ends on Friday, 10th February 2023 at 4:00 p.m. (GMT),” the Finance Ministry announced in a statement signed by sector minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.