The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has disclosed that the association is yet to receive an official proposal from the government for a possible haircut on pension funds in the domestic debt treatment.
After more than five months of exemption, the government has made a sharp U-turn to include pension funds in the treatment of domestic debt.
Sources say the government hopes to restructure about $2.7 billion owed to pension funds in a new round of talks.
General Secretary of the GFL, Abraham Koomson, stated that the association is yet to receive an official proposal from the government for a possible haircut.
“We have a committee which is responsible for such meetings, so as of now, we have not been formally or officially invited to any such meeting.”
However, he disclosed that the association expects the government to approach them with a proposal.
“We are expecting them to call, they wanted such a meeting in April, but unfortunately, the technical team had left for Bolgatanga for the May Day celebration, so that meeting didn’t come on, but we are expecting that government will come back with a new date,” he stressed.
When the government revealed plans to carry out a Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), the first group to request exemption was organised labour – they simply told the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to stay away from pension funds.
After several weeks of protests and threats of strikes, the government finally surprised labour with a ‘Christmas present’ by agreeing to go ahead with the DDEP without touching pension funds.
“Government has decided to grant exemption to all pension funds in the DDEP,” Organised Labour disclosed at a press conference on December 22, 2022.
However, more than five months after this assurance, labour has been asked to return to the negotiation table for fresh talks on the wheels of improved restructuring terms.
The calling-back of groups initially exempted from the DDEP sends shock waves across the investor community and creates uncertainty.
Without any condition, the government also indicated that “treasury bills are completely exempted, and all holders will be paid the full value of their investments on maturity.”
For domestic creditors, the information on the DDEP continues to swing like a pendulum, and investors have been left at the mercy of flip-flops at such a crucial moment.
External creditors whose assurances helped Ghana to obtain the $3 billion bailout package are watching on keenly and will be taking cues from what is happening in the domestic arena.