Ofori-Atta should clarify bondholders’ issues and the ‘Gold for Oil’ deal – Joe Jackson
Chief Operations Officer of Dalex Finance, Joe Jackson says the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta should address the information gap on the issues of; foreign bondholders, local dollar bondholders, individual bondholders, and the complicated ‘Gold for Oil’ deal in his press conference on the state of Ghana’s IMF program and growth agenda which slated for Wednesday, June 7, 2023.
Mr. Jackson noted that, in a lot of ways, the IMF deal was signed when there were still a lot of I’s to be dotted and T’s to be crossed.
There are a number of issues that were not really dealt with and there were commitments that haven’t been signed off such as the negotiation with the; foreign bondholders; dollar-denominated local bondholders and the pension funds that were still outstanding.
He told Johnnie Hughes on 3FM Sunrise Morning Show that Ghanaians will love to have an update and a clear understanding on all the aforementioned issues so as to know whether the negotiations have been concluded or not.
The global financial economist pointed out that “unfortunately because we don’t know about what has happened, the markets are not reaping the benefits of the IMF deal as much as they should.
“Rates are still very high, but the dollar rate should have come down further if people knew where we stand and what to expect” he mentioned.
He admitted that the markets have calmed down and are more stable than they used to be before the IMF deal was landed but there are still issues outstanding.
“The major issue is what are we doing with the individual bondholders who did not sign up to the program who have had outstanding bills, where are the negotiations? At what point are we ending it, and what point are we paying them off? So, these are some of the issues that we would love to have answers to” Joe Jackson identified.
He also stated that though he is not a believer in the ‘Gold for Oil’ deal, the finance minister in his press briefing on Wednesday 7 June 2023 should open up about the ‘Gold for Oil’ deal which is too difficult for many Ghanaians to comprehend.