Pension funds exempted from Debt Exchange Programme; Labour okay

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 exempt 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 the meeting with the Finance Minister is said to have made them withdraw the threat.

An official announcement, however, is yet to be made by labour