Pensioner pleased with Christmas ‘gift’

Christmas came early for pensioner Llewellyn Johnson last week, when the first cash payment under Government’s revised terms of debt exchange offer (DE0) landed in his bank account.

“He is very happy to have received some of his money and is looking forward to receiving formal documentation with regards to how the balance will be paid,” his daughter Kelly Mayers told the Sunday Sun.

In April, the 82-year-old invested his life savings of $147 420 in Government paper, which was supposed to be calculated at an interest rate of 3.5 per cent and matured at six months this past October 10, as was the case with the two previous times he invested in the same bonds. However, in September he was told that he would have to wait 15 years, until 2033, for his monies in full.

In its effort to reprofile the country’s debt, the Mia Mottley-led Administration undertook the new offer, in which existing instruments – Treasury bills and notes and debentures – outstanding as of September 30, 2018, were exchanged for new ones with reduced interest rates and a longer maturity period.

In November after much public outcry, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mottley threw a lifeline to pensioners who had complained of feeling the squeeze of Government’s debt restructuring exercise.
Under the revised terms of repayment for pensioners (defined as aged 60 and above), those who held holdings classified under Series A were approved to receive a cash. (SDB Media)