President of Ghana Medical Association, Dr Frank Serebour, has said that whether or not Organised Labour will call off its intended indefinite strike is in government’s hands.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Monday, he urged government to heed their demands by exempting their member’s pension funds from the debt exchange programme.

“I think that the outcome of the negotiations is very simple, our demand is simple. This ball lies squarely in the court of government. Tomorrow, government can decide to announce that pension funds of all and nature are not part of this debt exchange programme and we have nothing to discuss and there is no strike,” he stated.

His comment is in response to a question posed whether Organised Labour can negotiate something out if the government is willing to sit and talk.

According to him, until such a statement is issued, the health sector is prepared to go on strike, adding that their members are being prepared for the 27th of December.

Organised Labour on Monday served notice of embarking on an indefinite strike on December 27, 2022.

The Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Dr Yaw Baah announced during a press briefing on Monday.

He explained that the strike is due to government’s debt exchange programme.

According to him, the strike will be in force until the government exempts pension funds from the planned debt exchange programme.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta says government has extended the expiry date for enrollment onto the domestic debt exchange programme to December 30, 2022.

Giving an update on the state of the economy on Monday, Mr Ofori-Atta said that the extension is to “allow for key concerns raised by stakeholders to be accommodated in some form.”

“Following the stakeholder agreement, government has agreed to extend the expiration date for the domestic debt exchange programme to 30th December, 2022,” he said.