There will be no “haircuts” on government bonds – Prez Akufo-Addo assures
President Akufo-Addo has assured holders of government securities that there will be no reduction in the value of their investments.
Making the disclosure in a televised address on Sunday, October 29, 2022, the President urged the investing public to ignore rumours of “haircuts” on their investments in government securities.
Adding that, just as was the case in the banking sector clean-up, deposits or investments of customers will be protected.
“I also want to assure all Ghanaians that no individual or institutional investor, including pension funds, in Government treasury bills or instruments will lose their money, as a result of our ongoing IMF negotiations.
“There will be no “haircuts”, so I urge all of you to ignore the false rumours, just as, in the banking sector clean-up, Government ensured that the 4.6 million depositors affected by the exercise did not lose their deposits,” the President noted.
Touching on the depreciation of the cedi and ways to mitigate it, the President stated that the following measures are being taken to stem the depreciation of the cedi;
• Enhanced supervisory action by the Bank of Ghana in the forex bureau markets and the black market to flush out illegal operators, as well as ensuring that those permitted to operate legally abide by the market rules. Already some forex bureaus have had their licenses revoked, and this exercise will continue until complete order is restored in the sector;
• Fresh inflows of dollars are providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market, and addressing the pipeline demand;
• The Bank of Ghana has given its full commitment to the commercial banks to provide liquidity to ensure the wheels of the economy continue to run in a stabilized manner, till the IMF Programme kicks in and the financing assurances expected from other partners also come in;
• Government is working with the Bank of Ghana and the oil producing and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana to help boost the domestic foreign exchange market; and
• The Bank of Ghana will enhance its gold purchase programme.
“I am confident that these immediate measures designed to change the structure of our balance of payment flows, sanitise the foreign exchange market to ensure that the banks and forex bureaus operate along international best practices, together with strengthened supervision, will go a long way to sanitize our foreign exchange market, and make it more resilient against external vulnerabilities going forward,” the President noted.
