Individual bondholders to converge at Finance Ministry over outstanding payments

Members of the Coalition of Individual Bondholder Groups are set to protest at the Finance Ministry on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, because of their overdue principal and coupon payments.

They explained that their bonds have been overdue by some hundred (100) days, while a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between them and the Finance Ministry has lagged in implementation for fifty (50) days.

A statement from the coalition to its members, stakeholders, and the general public on Wednesday, July 5, announced as follows:

“We shall commence picketing at the Ministry of Finance to demand, among other things, the following: Payment of outstanding principals and coupons. Immediate implementation of the agreement reached and captured in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) dated May 16, 2023, and signed between the Coalition of Individual Bondholder Groups and the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government”.

The Coalition, comprising the Individual Bondholders Forum (IBF) and the Individual Bondholers Association of Ghana (IBHAG), slammed the government over its “unjustifiable” insensitivity to their plight after several engagements.

“The conduct of the government, intended or otherwise, has been condescending, insensitive, and disrespectful to its own citizens, whose crime has been to trust their government with their savings. What is worse is the untold hardship and unjustified suffering these citizens and their dependents continue to bear,” they lamented.

The groups further served notice of their decision to continue to picket at the Finance Ministry every other day from July 11, 2023, until their grievances are resolved.

The Finance Ministry and Bank of Ghana had stated earlier that they would announce a financial sector recovery plan by the end of June 2023.