Pension funds exempted from Debt Exchange Programme; committee formed for the way forward

Government has succumbed to pressure from organised labour by exempting workers’ pensions from the recently launched Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.

After a crunch meeting with organised labour on Thursday, December 22, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, gave utmost assurances that pensions of all workers will be exempted from the Programme.

The Programme, launched on Monday, December 5 and expected to take off next month, was announced as part of austerity measures to save the economy from collapse.

By the Programme, government was going to re-introduce coupons for domestic bonds, whose maturity could go to 2037. The bonds will be exchanged for new ones.

Reports of the inclusion workers’ pensions stirred agitations among workers, who gave government a 7-day ultimatum to exempt their contributions, most of which were lodged in government vaults.

After the ultimatum elapsed, Organised Labour declared intention to proceed on strike from Tuesday, December 27.

“We are asking government to exempt us from the debt exchange programme,” Secretary General of Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) Dr Anthony Yaw Baah told journalists at a press conference in Accra on Monday, December 19.

“We have already told the world that if government doesn’t do that, we will advise ourselves. Today, we are here to announce the advice.

“The advice is very simple. We have all agreed that because the government has refused to grant our request, we have decided firmly that all workers of Ghana are going to strike on December 27, 2022, and we will be on strike until our demands are met.”

But after today’s meeting, organised labour withdrawn the threat.

Meanwhile, after Thursday’s meeting, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and Organised Labour, a seven-member committee was formed to explore technical solutions to bring the debt threshold back to sustainable limits.

The Committee comprised four representatives from Government and three representatives from Organised Labour. They are expected to submit a report on December 28.

“We believe that Government and Organised Labour can work together in the spirit of social partnerships to resolve all outstanding issues to make the Debt Exchange Programme successful towards restoration of macroeconomic stability and economic recovery,” the MoU stated