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DDEP: Professor Millar finds new terms for individual bond holders unacceptable

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“I think the Finance Minister doesn’t get it. I don’t know what fixation he’s locked up into that he doesn’t want to open up to listen to the real issues. I am not talking about the individual bond holders as a whole, but the pensioners. These are lifeline bond holders who live daily. We do not live yearly. Some of them have even got doctor’s advice telling them the period they have got to live. Some conditions are terminal. 2 or 3 years, and you will be off. These are the people who have their money locked in there.”

Professor David Millar, the founder of the Millar Open University, said this when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show today, Wednesday, February 1, 2023. Professor Millar’s comments were in respect to the concessions the government had made with regard to the Domestic Debt Restructuring Programme. 

Government extended the deadline for the domestic debt exchange programme to February 7, 2023, and the settlement is scheduled for February 14, 2023.

In a statement on Tuesday, the finance ministry announced amended offers for individual bondholders who have requested to be exempted.

“…all individual bondholders are free not to participate. However, upon a successful DDEP, there will be very few of the ‘old bonds’ in circulation, and likely limiting its tradeability,  the finance ministry said.

The amended debt exchange offers individual bondholders aged 59 and below instruments with a maturity of 5 years instead of the 15 years proposed earlier, and a 10% coupon rate.

Retirees, including those retiring in 2023, will also be offered instruments with a maximum maturity of 5 years, instead of 15 years, and a 15% coupon rate, according to the statement.

But the concessions, according to Professor Millar, do nothing to deal with the concerns at hand. 

“You have a government that is supporting LEAP. LEAP is for people who are unable to make a living. You have retirees who are retirees and are in pension schemes, you [the government] have exempted them, but the same category of people who have their monies locked up in bonds, you say no, I wouldn’t agree to that. A bunch of inconsistencies,” he said. 

A maturity date of 5 years for persons retiring this year and those already on retirement with a 15 percent coupon rate is unacceptable, according to Professor Millar. 

“How many people have 5 years? I am talking about the lifeline situation. He [the Finance Minister] is 64 years old. The President is 74 years old. They know what we are talking about. They are not strangers to it. They are in that age bracket. For some of us, it really doesn’t matter,” he said. 

According to Professor Millar, if the government insists that the bond holders sign onto the arrangement in its current form, it may be better for the government to keep all the money and not even bother with scheduled payments. 

“My group, we have been discussing on our platform, they should just take it [the value of the bonds]. They should let us just live our lives,” he said. 

Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana

 

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