Pensioner Bondholders Forum, a group for the protection of the pensioners with investment in government bonds has served notice to picket at the premises of the Finance Ministry until its members are exempted from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
Convener of the group, Dr, Adu Anane Antwi told Citi News, they will continue to picket at the Finance Ministry until demands are met.
“We are pressing home our demand for an exception. That is why we have decided to converge at the ministry from Monday. Originally, we told the police that we will be converging every working day until our demands are met. But for now, we are going there for two days and then subsequently, we see what to do whether to continue or not depending on the response we get from government.”
The group lamented that its futile efforts to have its investment exempted from the program are the reason they have decided to picket the Finance Ministry until their demands are met.
“On 10 January 2023, we submitted a petition to the Minister of Finance to exempt all pensioners holding Government Bonds from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme on the same basis used for the exemption of Pension Funds from the programme, as the impact of the programme on pensioners who are bondholders will be very severe.
“We have as of today not been granted the exemption we requested. To further press home our request, we have notified the Police that about 50 of our members intend to converge at the premises of the Ministry of Finance on every working day from 10 am-11 am, beginning from Monday 6th February 2023 till our request is granted by the Minister.”
The deadline for the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme has been set for Tuesday, February 7, 2023.
