The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has stated that the business committee should schedule the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, as soon as possible to discuss the Domestic Debt Exchange programme (DDEP).
The speaker stated that this must be done quickly because the pensioners are picketing at the Ministry of Finance.
He proposed that the Minister appear on February 14, 2023.
“Parliament is always ready to help the government get out of this quagmire. So, as of now, I can say that parliament has spoken, and that is the end of the matter. The Minister must be scheduled by the business committee as soon as possible because the pensioners are picketing at the moment.
“We need to do this as quickly as possible. Business Committee should schedule the Minister to appear before the house for a brief on the state of affairs.”
There have been agitations of Pensioner Bondholders Forum. They picketed in front of the Finance Ministry on Monday, February 6 to demand an exemption from the domestic debt exchange programme.
They said most of them depend on their coupons to cater for themselves and their children hence want an exemption just as the Pension Fund.
But they said the government has not listened to their concerns.
The government has again extended the deadline to register for the domestic debt exchange programme to Friday, February 10, 2023.
According to the finance ministry, the debt exchange has officially ended, but an extension is needed to complete the online tender process for bondholders facing technical challenges.
“As a result, the government is providing bondholders an administrative 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 administrative window ends on Friday, 10th February 2023 at 4:0pm (GMT),” a finance ministry statement stated.
The government is restructuring parts of the country’s total debt, estimated at 575 billion cedis, in order to access $3 billion in funding from the International Monetary Fund.
The finance ministry has struggled to implement the domestic debt restructuring as bondholders reject the programme due to a lack of clarity over the terms and profitability of the new bonds.
It is unclear if the government has reached its target of 80% participation to secure an IMF board approval for the much-wanted bailout to boost the economy.
