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The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has so far released a total of GH¢545,950,332.73 in locked up pension funds in the Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA) to contributors, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Authority, Hayford Attah Krufi has disclosed.

This amount went to both private and public sector workers.
The NPRA transferred an amount of GH¢544,812,957.37 to 250,532 private sector workers from 7,694 employers at the end of March, 2017.

Public sector workers, on the other hand, received GH¢1,137,375.36.This represents five per cent of the total contributions of public sector workers for the period of September, 2016 to April, 2017.These are trustees of public sector schemes including Hedge Fund Master Trust Scheme, GES Occupational Pension Scheme, Health Services Workers’ Occupational Pension Scheme, and Judicial Service Occupational Pension.

According to Mr Krufi, the Authority is closely working towards the transfer of the remaining contributions of public sector workers in the TPFA. The fund is being held at the Bank of Ghana.

“A number of progressive meetings have been held with key stakeholders including the trustees of the public sector schemes and their administrators and the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to finalise the processes for the transfer,” he said.

We have to value and audit the funds before we start the process of transfer. We are on it and I am sure that the remaining funds will be released before the year ends,” the NPRA CEO added.

Mr Krufi stated pension funds are essential to the growth and expansion of the economy of any country and assured that the Authority will work to develop Ghana’s pension industry.

“Most countries have developed with the help of pension funds and I believe we can do same if we all work together as players to grow the industry. The Authority will continue to work closely with all stake holders for the development of the industry.”

When quizzed on the value of the remaining amount or what has been accrued so far, the CEO explained that it is in the excess of GH¢2 billion but “since it is still in an investment it will be reckless to put a figure out there until we get a statement from Bank of Ghana.”

As of June, 2016, the NPRA had about GH¢2.9 billion of TPFAto be released.

The continuous delay of the in the release of the funds have led to the slow growth of some investment portfolios.
According to CEO of STANLIB Ghana Limited, Alex Asiedu, the release of the funds will create a larger pool of investible assets across the market and this helps the macro economy with the supply of funds.

“If the macro-economic template is stable, interest rates should be able to go down too because there is more money chasing fewer stuff around the economy. So it is a good thing,” Mr Asiedu noted.

He charged asset management companies to educate the public and put in place the right infrastructure to manage the funds when they are released.