TUC Suspends Strike After Pension Funds Exemption In Debt Exchange Programme

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has revoked its decision to embark on indefinite strike action following the pronouncement by the government to exclude pension funds from the Debt Exchange Programme.

The nationwide strike by TUC planned to take effect from Tuesday, December 27, 2022, was to demonstrate extensively against the inclusion of pension funds in the programme.

TUC General Secretary, Dr Anthony Yaw Baah, announced the U-turn at a press conference held in Accra on December 22, 2022.

TUC  further cautioned the government against plans to include pension funds in the debt exchange programme in the future.

At the press conference, the public workers assured the government of working collaboratively with management to ensure growth and stability in the country.

Meanwhile, TUC, including other labour unions, has proposed to the government to increase their base pay salary by 58 per cent to cushion government workers against the current economic hardship.

Since the announcement of the Debt Exchange Programme, organised labour mounted pressure on the government to exempt workers’ pensions from the restructuring process.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, during a presentation at the launch of Ghana’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme on December 5, 2022, announced that “the domestic debt operation involves an exchange for new Ghana bonds with a coupon that steps up to 10% as soon as 2025 (with a first interest payment in 2024) and longer average maturity. Existing domestic bonds as of December 1, 2022, will be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032 and 2037. The predetermined allocation ratio are as follows: 17% for the short bonds, 17% for the intermediate bond, 25% for the medium-term bond and 41% for the long-term bond. The annual coupon on all of these new bonds will be set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024 and 10% from 2025 until maturity. Coupon payments will be semi-annual”.

The Finance Ministry announced an extension of the deadline for the domestic debt exchange from December 19 to December 30.

According to the ministry, the extension was in response to feedback from the financial sector on the need to secure internal and Executive Board approvals, which are necessary considerations for their participation in the exchange.