BREAKING NEWS: Gov’t Excludes Pension Funds From Debt Exchange Programme

The government of Ghana has reached an agreement with organised labour to exclude all pension funds from the Debt Exchange Programme announced by the government.

This was made known at a press briefing after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between organised labour, the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, the Ministry of Finance and the National Security Ministry on Thursday, December 22.

However, the exemption of all pension funds is subject to the government and organised labour working together to explore mutually beneficial options within the debt sustainability terms.

Since the announcement of the Debt Exchange Programme, organised labour has mounted pressure on the government to exempt workers’ pensions from the restructuring process.

Reports of the inclusion of workers’ pensions stirred agitations among workers, who gave the government a 7-day ultimatum to rescind the decision to include workers’ contributions, most of which were lodged in government vaults, or risk a mass strike action beginning Wednesday, December 27.

The programme, launched on December 5 and expected to take off in January 2023, was announced as part of austerity measures to save the economy from collapsing.

According to the programme, the government was going to re-introduce coupons for domestic bonds, whose maturity could go to 2037. The bonds will be exchanged for new ones.

The Finance Ministry announced an extension of the deadline for the domestic debt exchange from December 19 to December 30.

According to the ministry, the extension was in response to feedback from the financial sector on the need to secure internal and Executive Board approvals, which are necessary considerations for their participation in the exchange.