Lord Mensah to government: Exempt pensioners from debt exchange programme

Professor Lord Mensah, an associate professor at the University of Ghana Business School, has advised the government to exempt pensioners from its Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.

Mensah argues that the quantum of bonds held by pensioners is insignificant, and so offering them an exemption is not only right but will not make a significant difference to the government’s attempts to raise revenue.

Speaking to Kwaku Nhyira-Addo on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (16 January), Mensah said: “I will prefer we exempt pensioners and the disabled, because usually these are people [of whom] you know very well that generating economic activities around themselves will be very low.

“So, I will plead with the government: I don’t think the quantum of bonds that they are holding within the entire debt structure will be so much,” he said. “I don’t think they will exceed GHC3 billion.”

Listen to Lord Mensah in the audio clip attached below:

Investor confidence

The lawyer Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo has warned that the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme could erode confidence in the Ghanaian market.

Samoa Addo was speaking about the call by individual bondholders to be exempted from the government’s programme.

Appearing on Asaase 99.5 Accra’s news analysis show The Forum on Saturday (14 January), Addo said the government must tread cautiously.

“You cannot unilaterally impose new policies on people, and now no one will invest their money in buying government treasury bills,” he said.

“What this policy has eventually caused is that now, nobody will have confidence in investing in the Ghanaian market,” he said. “First, we’re breaking a contract and imposing on the people.”

Speaking on the same programme, the deputy chief executive officer of the National Youth Authority in charge of finance and administration, Akosua (“Kozie”) Manu, said the government is aware of the discomfort the debt exchange programme has caused investors.

“I want to acknowledge the stories out there; the stories are sad. It’s heartbreaking, but without a doubt, we are going through something, and the solutions are limited; the solution is painful and hard at best,” she said.

Below is a video clip of the programme:

Fred Dzakpata

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