The Pensioner Bondholders Forum has indicated that it will not relent until the outstanding matured coupons of its members are paid.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, the convenor of the Forum, Dr. Adu Anane Antwi said all attempts to get the attention of the government to pay their bonds have gone unresponsive which has left them with no other option than to resume picketing at the Ministry of Finance.
“We have tried to get the government to pay the outstanding coupons, and we are not getting the needed payment that must be made, therefore we had to embark on the protest after we had served notice to the government that if we didn’t get paid by 21st [of April], we were going to resume our picketing to back our demand, and we didn’t get any feedback, so we have to resume picketing.”
Dr. Antwi also rubbished the government’s call for dialogue to draft a payment plan saying it is important the government put its house in place to honour its outstanding coupons than using delay tactics.
“You plan how to pay your debt and not sit and plan with the creditor on how to pay that debt because that is not how we operate in the financial sector. Government will have to plan its own cashflows.”
He further indicated that the Forum will continue to “converge [at the premises of the Finance Ministry] until the government raises money to pay us. Until the government pays us will continue to make the same demands.”
The Forum claims that their coupons had not been paid for about two months now and suggested that the government borrows from the Treasury Bills market to pay the pensioners whose livelihoods have been adversely affected by the delays.
