The Ghana Individual Bondholders’ Forum(IBF) has asked direct bondholders to reject and refrain from complying with the mandatory deadline imposed under the Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) program and rather join its efforts in pursuit of the interest of individual bondholders in respect of the DDE program.
Also, the forum has urged Indirect Bondholders (Investors in mutual funds, cash trusts, balance funds) to inform their fund managers not to accept the Domestic Debt Exchange.
In a statement issued by the Convener, Senyo K. Hosi said government is bulldozing investors to submit to a “voluntary” arrangement “because of the absence of effective representation and the perceived ease of oppressing a dispersed section of investors into submission.”
In efforts to establish a formidable front against the DDE program, the IBF thus called on labour unions “to join in the fight for the preservation of hard-earned savings invested by the Ghanaian public which also includes their members.”
Individual bondholders are to exchange their domestic bonds for new benchmark bonds.
But the Individual Bondholders’ Forum argues the arrangement irreversibly takes away the wealth and livelihoods of direct and indirect individual bondholders.
“In an unfortunate oppressive fashion, government has shown total disregard for the contractual rights of Individual bondholders and has made no effort to structure reasonable consultations with individual bondholders. In the process, we have been presented with painfully stark, impoverishing and unsustainable choices – a situation deeply troubling and wholly untenable,” the statement said.
As part of efforts by the government to restructure the debt programme, individual investors have been included in the DDE.
Individual bondholders were originally exempted from the domestic debt exchange, however, after government excluded pension funds following pressure from organised labour, the programme is expanded to cover individual investments.
In addition to the modifications, there would be eight new instruments to the composition of the new bonds, for a total of 12 new bonds, one maturing each year starting January 2027 and ending January 2038.
The government is also setting a non-binding target minimum level of overall participation of 80 per cent of aggregate principal amount outstanding of eligible bonds among others.
The Government in December, 2022 further extended the expiration date of the Invitation from Friday, 30th December 2022 at 4:00 p.m. (GMT) to Monday, 16th January 2023 at 4:00 p.m.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5 Fm