My govt has paid 98% of depositors of collapsed banks, microfinance companies - Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has disclosed that 98% of the depositors of the microfinance and savings and loans companies have received their monies.

According to him, the intervention by the Bank of Ghana was very timely; it protected the savings of depositors since some of the microfinance and savings and loans companies were on the verge of collapse.

"98%, all those whose savings were in the banks, all those savings have been refunded and paid to the people and in fact, the intervention of the central bank was to protect the savings because many of the banks that went into receivership were about to collapse, their situation was dire and even if we have allowed [them] to collapse all those deposits would have gone up in smoke," President Akufo-Addo told Koforidua-based Sunrise FM during his Eastern Regional tour on Tuesday.

The president continued: “As far as microfinance and savings and loans and institutions are concerned 98% of the deposits and the funds have also been paid, there is still a balance. The receivers and others are working on it and I believe Nana Nipah has made it known that by the end of August, all of them would have been paid.”

He emphasized: “Yes, there are still some in the system that have not received their money but every effort is being made to make sure that they receive it. In order for this to happen, this just another important thing, all together, when it is over banks, microfinance, savings and loans, investment funds, 21 billion cedis is what is coming from the government to protect Ghanaian depositors and investors; to make sure that people do not pay for the irresponsible money. We are determined to pay them.”

The Bank of Ghana (BoG), in 2019, embarked on a clean-up of the financial sector and revoked the licences of some banks, microfinance and savings and loans companies.

This exercise by the BoG resulted in the loss of jobs and in some cases locking up of depositors’ funds.

To assuage their pain, the government has assured a 100 per cent restoration of their locked-up funds once each depositor had been verified.