The Chief Executive Officer of the Private Enterprises Federation, PEF, Nana Osei Bonsu says businesses are still struggling to access their locked-up funds, almost a month after President Akufo-Addo directed that customers of defunct financial institutions be paid their monies.
The development, the PEF CEO laments, is having a negative impact on the private sector since many businesses have their monies locked up with some of the Savings and Loans (S&L) companies that went under.
President Akufo-Addo in December directed the regulators of the financial sector to pay all customers of collapsed institutions on time.
But speaking to Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show, Nana Osei Bonsu says there has been a total disregard for the president’s directive hence the delay.
“How come the president in his Christmas message directed the Bank of Ghana, Ministry of Finance to try and make sure they have the liquidity to pay everybody, including the customers of collapsed Microfinance companies and Savings and Loans companies, and yet nothing has been done,” he lamented.
Nana Bonsu stated that the president’s directive has not been followed hence the delay on the part of the Ministry of Finance to give feedback to affected customers.
He maintained that the development is badly impacting businesses whose millions of cedis had been saved at the collapsed financial institutions.
Meanwhile, Nana Osei Bonsu also supported suggestions from Economist Kwame Mpiani for the Bank of Ghana to print money to pay all customers of defunct institutions.
Reacting to the issue, Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah explained that the government provided some funds to support the financial regulators in settling some of the customers while the receivers work on paying the rest through liquidation.