The Minority in Parliament is set to embark on a series of meetings with investors and individual bondholders across the country over the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) programme.

Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu announced the nationwide roadshows to look at the poor qualities of the DDE programme while interacting with the press on Monday.

“We wish to take this opportunity to indicate our intention to embark on nationwide roadshows to foster a deeper understanding of this matter and rally Ghanaians to demand a more favorable resolution of the economic crisis,” he said.

The Minority’s stance on the programme is gloom-ridden as they believe that the government’s initiative “will leave affected persons, mainly the middle class, improvised while worsening the plight of the poor.”

“The inclusion of individual bondholders in the Domestic Debt Exchange is the biggest transfer of funds from the pockets of Ghanaians to the government,” Mr Iddrisu further lamented.

The Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, which is a voluntary exercise, seeks to classify domestic bonds into 12 categories. Government has increased the new bonds offered by adding eight new instruments to the composition of the new bonds, for a total of 12 new bonds, one maturing each year starting January 2027 and ending January 2038.

It is offering accrued and unpaid interest on eligible bonds, and a cash tender fee payment to holders of eligible bonds maturing in 2023.

“The Exchange Consideration Ratio applicable to eligible bonds maturing in 2023 will be different from other eligible bonds,” the government has stated.

The government has extended the expiration date of the Domestic Debt Exchange programme from Monday, 16th January 2023 to Tuesday, 31st January 2023.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the period before the expiration date of the programme will be used to further engage stakeholders especially individual bondholders to mitigate any adverse impacts they may face.

Already, the Ministry noted that important discussions are ongoing with financial institutions, notably in relation to forbearance measures, accounting treatment, as well as the structure and parameters of the Ghana Financial Stability Fund (GFSF).