Former Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, has said that he was broken to see pensioners picket at the Finance Ministry to demand exclusion from the debt restructuring programme.

According to him, these people have sacrificed decades of their lives for the country, hence they should not be subjected to such treatment for meager returns from their pensions.

“It was sad, very sad. I have information and data on how much they take home every month from the pension, very small. Very few take GH₵2000 a month and some of them worked 35 years almost 40 years for the nation,” he said.

Speaking on Ghana’s economy on JoyNews on Friday, the flagbearer hopeful of the National Democratic Congress, said “if I had to cut down government expenditure to save them, I will.”

He further said a prayer for them. “I pray that we will be able to make enough money by cutting down the size of government, so we make some savings and bring in the cash to pay them during maturity.”

Dr Duffuor explained that the domestic debt exchange programme is a fraction of an entire process the government must undertake to ensure economic stability.

“The domestic debt exchange by itself will not be able to resolve the challenges in the economy. It will not recover or bring about any recovery unless we look at the whole system. For example, cutting down on the size of government, making sure the rate of inflation goes down.

“When we have inflation hovering around 50% now, the purchasing power of companies are going down.

“This means we must all aim at making some savings in the system, government must think of making savings. The investors must begin to think about that,” he added.

In a bid to structure the external debt, President Akufo-Addo has made another clarion call on friends of Ghana to put in a word of support as talks between Ghana and the Paris Club – especially China – for debt cancellation enter a crucial stage.

The Paris Club is a group of officials from major creditor countries whose role is to find coordinated and sustainable solutions to the payment difficulties experienced by debtor countries.

Ghana hopes to appear before the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board to seek approval for a bailout.

But the government will first have to get confirmation that the over $4 billion debt owed to the Paris Club members will be forgiven or restructured.

In a statement, it said the “Government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP) closed on Friday February 10, 2023 with over 80% participation of eligible bonds. The government wants to thank the people of Ghana for their forbearance and support throughout these very difficult times”.

The Minister is expected to expand on this situation and the subsequent modalities for restructuring the external wing of the bonds.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister is likely to furnish Parliament with details of the ongoing debt restructuring.

This was after the Minority succeeded with a Private Members’ Motion to Speaker, Alban Bagbin, calling for Ken Ofori-Atta to present the House with details.