Story: News Desk

Members of the Pensioner Bondholders’ Forum will today, May 9, continue their protest to demand payment of their matured coupons and principals on their bonds.

Government has defaulted in the payment of 19 coupons and 3 principals since February after granting the pensioners exemption from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

The group members yesterday Monday, May 8, converged at the Ministry of Finance to picket.

In an interview with the media  , the Convener for the group, Dr. Adu Anane Antwi said the protest will continue unabated. 

“We will converge there until government raises money even if it has to raise money from the Treasury Bills market to pay us, so that people will have money to go and buy their drugs and leave. Nobody knows how long the laws want them to take. Because they couldn’t get their medicines they should die? Let people get their monies. I’m saying the Treasury Bills market is still not closed to government, it’s not much”.

“The government can borrow from the Treasury Bills market to pay us. If you borrow from the Treasury Bills market, it will raise your debt level, but you are faced with a situation where you have to do that for people who need their money for medication,” Dr. Adu Anane Antwi, Convener for the Pensioner Bondholders’ Forum said.

The government has defaulted on payments for coupons on matured bonds for pensioner bondholders who were exempted from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme and to individual bondholders who did not participate in the scheme.

The Forum explains that the government has failed to pay their matured coupons and principals for more than two months.