Executive Director of the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson, has insisted that Ghanaians who have invested in government bonds and other investment portfolios will lose some of their investment because of the ongoing economic crisis.
Mensah Thompson's remarks come after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo refuted suggestions that his government would buy off government bonds at rates lower than their expected returns – "haircut on Government bonds".
Addressing the nation on measures being taken by the government to rescue the economy, Akufo-Addo said: "I also want to assure all Ghanaians that no individual or institutional investor, including pension funds, in government treasury bills or instruments will lose their money, as a result of our ongoing IMF negotiations.
"There will be no "haircuts", so I urge all of you to ignore the false rumours, just as, in the banking sector clean-up, government ensured that the 4.6 million depositors affected by the exercise did not lose their deposits."
He cautioned, "those who make it a habit of publishing falsehoods, which result in panic in the system, I say to them that the relevant state agencies will act against such persons".
But, Mensah Thompson, in an XYZ TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb, on Monday, October 31, said that Ghanaians should not believe the statement of the president.
He added that some banks have already started sending notifications to their customers about the "government bond haircuts".
"Things are going to get worse… Officials of the IMF will be in Ghana in the next few weeks to do what we call the final assessment ahead of a debt restructuring. One of the things President Akufo-Addo and Ofori-Atta will be adding to the debt restructuring basket is pensions.
"Pension funds are also going to receive those haircuts. I am not saying that people should believe me, but will you believe the president who has continuously lied to you for the past five years? Are they not the same people who said we will not be going to the IMF?
"If such a person (Akufo-Addo) comes to tell you that your bonds, your securities and your pensions are not going to receive a haircut, you believe that person at your own risk. The point I'm making is that there is a huge financial sector crisis coming up," he said in Twi.
"Yesterday, EcoBank sent notices to their customers; their EDC fund holders have started receiving haircuts. Bondholders of Stanbic Bank have started receiving haircuts, and other commercial banks are doing same. The haircuts have even started before the debt restructuring," he added.
Watch the interview in the video below:
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Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson