By Roberta Gayode Modin
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, has explained that the inclusion of pensioners in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme is to help them receive their lump sum faster.
According to him, the decision was taken on the basis that 80% of bondholders who are pensioners have bonds beyond 5 years.
“What I tried to do in giving you the option was that almost 80% of you have bonds from 5 years going. So in the new arrangement, where I have brought everything down below 5 years, it makes it easier to get your lump sum faster,” he explained to some picketing pensioners at the Ministry of Finance.
Pensioners who have bought government bonds began picketing at the Ministry of Finance on Monday, February 6, 2023, to press home their demands for an exemption of their bonds from the domestic debt exchange program.
Five days ago, former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo joined the group to picket, where she described the program as wicked.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister has described the picketing as unnecessary, indicating that the programme was voluntary.
He, however, disclosed that about 16% of pensioners who have bought government bonds have signed up for the programme.
