The Ministry of Finance has released GH¢5 billion, in a combination of cash and bonds, towards the full settlement of all validated claims due depositors of the failed Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs).

They include customers of microfinance; microcredit; savings and loans and finance house companies.

A statement issued by the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Finance, in Accra on Monday, said the money was released to the Receiver of the defunct Savings and Loans and Microfinance Companies and the Official Liquidator of the Micro Credit companies through Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG).

The statement, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the intervention would “provide liquidity and guarantee the funds of individuals, businesses, and financial institutions that have been locked up in these defunct financial institutions, pending the completion of the Receivership exercise.

“With this intervention, all depositors will now be paid in full”.

The statement explained that the Ministry initially provided funds for the Receiver to settle validated depositor claims of the defunct SDIs of up to GH¢20,000 per depositor, with the understanding that the remaining validated claims would be settled as and when value was realised from the sale of the assets of the defunct institutions.

“However, due to the slow process of recovery in the receivership process, the Ministry has now made available these additional resources to pay all remaining validated depositors’ funds,” the statement said.

“All depositors affected should note that the Receiver and CBG will provide them with a detailed plan and procedures to fully settle all outstanding depositor claims in cash and fixed instruments once the claims have been validated in line with the resolution process.

“The Public will note that, with this intervention, the Government will have so far spent about GH¢17.7 billion on the resolution process, GH¢11.65 billion for the banking sector and GH¢6.1 billion on the SDIs and MFIs.

“We expect that the recent accelerated pace of the prosecutions and an intensification of the civil recovery process under the Receivership will result in substantial recovery of these monies for the Treasury”.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his Message on the State of the Nation to Parliament on Thursday, gave the assurance that all validated customers, including those of DKM, would fully receive their locked-up funds.