The convener of the Pensioner Bondholders Forum has asked government to immediately withdraw the bonds of pensioners from the Domestic Debt Exchange.

Dr Adu Antwi said he sees pensioners' inclusion in the programme as an oversight which must be addressed urgently.

The convener who doubles as the former Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said there is no justification for government to exclude pension funds but include bonds of pensioners. 

Speaking on JoyFM’s Newsfile on Saturday, January 21, he said some of his members are dying due to the uncertainties with their monies. 

He thus urged government to ameliorate the situation by immediately announcing that the bonds of his members have been exempted from the exercise. 

“We have said that once you have exempted people who are yet to come on pension simply because you don’t want them to suffer when they go on pension, then those of us who are now on pension should be exempted. So I’ve told them to correct this as I see an as an anomaly.

“Even now that we are talking, people are losing their lives as we are talking. Pensioners who are on dialysis, stroke and other complications are losing their lives,” he pleaded. 

Background

Government in a bid to rescue the economy and secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), government has proposed that all bondholders will not receive any interest on their bonds for the 2023 financial year.

The payment of dividends, according to government is likely to begin next year, 2024 at a discounted rate of 5%.

In relation to this, bondholders who may want to transfer their bonds will not be able to get the full principal they initially invested as bonds.

This proposal, since its announcement, has been rejected by many bondholders who have expressed frustration about the development.

In their view, if the proposal is implemented, they will suffer a great deal of loss, with many of them stating that their investments may even become unprofitable.