The Pensioners Bondholders Forum responded to Ken Ofori-Atta's statements in a letter titled "Government Engages With Leadership Of Coalition Of Individual Bondholders Groups And The Pensioners Bondholders Forum," which was signed by the convener Dr. Adu A. Antwi.
The convener claims that they are extremely alarmed and astonished to learn about the false statement in paragraph 2 of the Ministry's press release from April 14, 2023.
Our attention has been called to a press release from the Ministry of Finance dated April 14, 2023, regarding a meeting with senior representatives from the Coalition of Individual Bondholders Groups and the Pensioners Bondholders Forum.
The Joint Technical Committee, which was established on January 18, 2023, will reconvene and decide on a course of action to satisfy the outstanding financial obligations by April 28, 2023, according to a statement in paragraph 2 of the press release. We would like to note that no agreement of the sort described in paragraph 2 of the press release from the ministry was achieved.
Antwi, Dr. Adu A
The statement said that at the meeting, the Ministry proposed giving the Joint Technical Committee, which was established on January 18, 2023, a four-week period to work on and come to a consensus on a plan for paying down the Government's outstanding debt commitments. "The proposal from the Ministry was not accepted," it therefore stated.
Pensioners are Suffering a Great Deal
The Forum's convener said that some retirees are experiencing severe suffering and financial difficulty as a result of the postponed payments, and she asked that the payments be made by April 21st, 2023, in accordance with the demands expressed in the Forum's letter to the Minister dated March 30, 2023.
However, the Convener pledged that he would work to persuade Forum participants to grant the Ministry a one (1) week extension of the deadline for paying the Government's outstanding debt obligations, which is set for April 21, 2023. The Convener recommended the Ministry to wait for his confirmation of the one (1) week extension once he had spoken with Forum members.
Minister of Finance Ken Ofori Atta
The Convener asked that, after additional discussion with the Forum, the Ministry respond to the Forum's letter of March 30, 2023 and state that it has agreed to pay the outstanding coupons and principals by April 28, 2023, pending receiving a confirmation from him.
As stated in our letter of March 30, 2023, "We wish to state that we have granted the Ministry a one (1) week extension to the 21 April 2023 deadline for the payment of all outstanding coupons and principals, bringing the deadline to the 28 April 2023."