The Pensioner Bondholders Forum (PBF) have hinted that they will not sue government due to the constant delays in payment of the outstanding coupons and principals of members.
Convener of the Forum, Dr Adu Anane Antwi, said a decision to head to court will rather compound their woes in their bid to receive their outstanding payments.
Speaking with journalists on the second day of the Forum’s picketing at the Finance Ministry, Dr Antwi said government must rather deliver on its resolve to pay the pensioners their outstanding coupons and principals.
“We will not go to court because you cannot wait for your coupons when you are in court, and you are literally dying. We must rather put pressure on the government to pay us.”
Meanwhile, the PBF has disclosed that government is yet to pay some 22 coupons and 3 principals as of May 8, 2023 following the completion of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
They have also rejected the idea that government converts principal payments into Treasury Bills to pay pensioner bondholders.
“We are going strictly by our bond condition and we want government to pay us our coupons and principals when due. Government has also not given us any proposal pleading that it will pay us through T-Bills”.
Touching on how the PBF believes government can borrow funds to settle the payments, Dr. Adu Antwi said government can borrow from the Treasury Bills market to pay the outstanding debt.
He explained that, “…If you borrow from the T-Bills it will raise the debt level a bit but government is currently faced with a condition where it has to take this route especially for persons who need their money for medication, rent and other critical needs”.
“Government must borrow from the treasury bill market to pay pensioner bondholders so that we can make something out of the remaining time we have on this earth,” he lamented.