Archbishop Charles Agyinasare, the founder and senior pastor of the Perez Chapel International, lamented the impact the nation’s current financial crisis is having on his investment.
According to him, the debt exchange program that the government implemented as a result of the nation’s economic crisis prevents him from getting his GH¢106,000 investment back.
This was revealed to his congregation by the acclaimed man of God.
He claims that his bankers told him they could only give him GHC 1000 each week till the full sum is paid.
“I’m going to say something, don’t make it political, I’m not talking politics, I’m talking Ghana, I’m talking about we being in a time like that where our monies have been failing if it has not already failed. Our banks cannot even pay people’s bonds, bonds which were risk-free.”
“I’m going to give you my personal testimony. I have an instrument with a certain financial institution– a bank. I have been saving for a very long time, and now it’s [accrued to] about GH¢106,000. I told my bank I was taking my money, they said they are going to pay me GH¢1,000 every week. That means that the GH¢106,000 will take me 106 weeks to get all my money back,” Archbishop Agyinasare recounted.
He claimed that the bank’s managers told him up front that they were giving him that payment plan due to his status in the country.
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“And when I said they should do something about it, they said they are trying because it’s me, Archbishop. Because some people come to our bank and they weep. With the restructuring [DDEP] that we are doing, some monies will take 30 years to be paid. And so I’m not talking politics I’m talking about reality,” Archbishop Agyinasare said.
The outspoken pastor predicted that because monies would be locked up in the banks, the majority of the nation’s businesses would soon be laying off employees.
“When money failed in Egypt, they came to Joseph… So you and I are going to the Lord in prayer. With what is happening, very soon people are going to lose their jobs because companies who have monies and cannot withdraw their monies from the banks, will not be able to pay their workers. So think about Ghana first and not politics,” he said.
Archbishop Agyinasare thus led his congregation to intercede for the country in prayers.
Background
The government established the domestic debt exchange program in response to the nation’s economic problems and efforts to obtain a $3 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help make its debt a little more manageable.
Bonds and other financial instruments are impacted by the debt exchange program, which is strongly opposed by numerous groups.
According to the Individual Bondholders Forum, the inclusion of its members in the Domestic Debt Exchange Program will undermine public confidence in Ghana’s financial system and securities market. The group has been urging the government to exclude its members.
Banks, insurance companies, and other prominent organizations that would be subject to haircuts as a result of the debt exchange program have expressed their worries publicly.
Source: Citinews
