According to the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG), certain corporate trustees allegedly exploited the Debt Exchange Programme because they were aware of it beforehand.
At a press conference on Friday, Isaac Bampoe Addo, the executive secretary of CLOGSAG, said that these trustees had transferred their domestic bond holdings into foreign assets since they were aware of the programme beforehand.
He said that they also converted their bond holdings into cash in order to avoid paying the government's haircut.
The way the DDE was handled has prompted important questions. Some corporate trustees were able to convert their domestic bond holdings into either foreign assets or foreign currency or alter the corporate holdings into individual holdings since they were aware of the domestic debt exchange programme in advance. Additionally, they converted their bond assets into cash, according to Isaac Bampoe Addo.
Therefore, CLOGSAG requested that the National Pension Regulatory Authority (NPRA) look into the claims.
"These issues shouldn't go unaddressed. We request that the National Pension Regulatory Authority look into this situation in light of its investment policies and NPRA regulations.
Following a memorandum of understanding with Organized Labor, the government stated on Thursday that all pension funds will be spared from the debt swap programme.
This comes after persistent protests and criticism from Organized Labour over worries about cuts to their members' pension accounts.
Nevertheless, CLOGSAG asserts that its members will go on a statewide strike if the government "fails to honour any of our coupons when they fall due," notwithstanding the pension funds' immunity from the programme.
"It's surprising that the government picked a domestic debt exchange as a solution to its incapacity to service the domestic debt when it could have scaled back its flagship programmes, which would have gone a long way toward demonstrating the government's readiness," he continued.
Following its meeting with Organized Labor on Thursday, the government has subsequently established a seven-person team to look into technical options for lowering the debt ceiling to manageable levels.
Three members of Organized Labor and four members of the Government made up the Committee. On December 28, they are expected to turn in a report.
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