The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) Secretary General, Mr. Abraham Koomson, emphasised that Organized Labor, which includes all recognised unions and workers' organisations, continues to oppose the government's domestic debt exchange programme.
Organized labour has aggressively opposed the debt swap programme, according to Mr. Koomson, who claimed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Tema.
To prevent any labour upheaval in the nation, he consequently urged the government to respect the viewpoint of labour unions.
He emphasised that the reason he was so determined to oppose it was because it would hurt workers and pensioners.
He claimed that organised labour was adamantly opposed to the government's announcement of a domestic debt exchange programme to meet IMF requirements for a bailout from the self-inflicted economic catastrophe.
When considering the scheme's severe effects on employees' pensions and other assets, the GFL Secretary General continued, "different workers' organisations have spontaneously responded against this initiative."
He said that the government had not acted in good faith during negotiations with organised labour before choosing IMF assistance to deal with Ghana's economic difficulties.
He claimed that the government never considered using the IMF as a progressive alternative to bolster the faltering economy. This was on the record, he claimed.
He began, "The government's breaking its promise in Parliament to never seek IMF assistance in addressing Ghana's economic issues was taken aback by the 13 affiliate unions of GFL.
On December 4, 2022, the Ministry of Finance announced its plan to restructure the nation's debt, stating that "Under the Program, domestic bondholders will be required to exchange their instruments for new ones."
As part of the scheme, a set of four new bonds with maturities in 2027, 2029, 2032, and 2037 would be swapped for a set of current domestic bonds as of December 1st, 2022.
All of these new bonds' yearly coupons will be set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024, and 10% from 2025 until maturity. Semi-annual coupon payments will be made.
The Finance Ministry stated that Treasury Bills were entirely exempt from this policy and that all holders would get the full amount of their investments upon maturity.
The Ministry also stated that there would be no reduction in bond principal, and that bond holders as a whole would not be impacted.
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