A total of GH¢700 million is to be re­leased to the Secu­rities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pay individu­als whose funds were locked up in some Fund Management Companies (FMCs) as part of the financial sector clean-up exercise embarked on by the government.

The money, is the first tranche of an additional GH¢1.5 billion to be released by the government to bail out the remaining asset management companies including Blackshield Fund Management Limited. • Dr Mohammed Amin Adam (behind mic) addressing the press conference Photo: Ebo Gorman The Minister of Finance, Dr Mo­hammed Amin Adam, who disclosed this during the monthly economic update press briefing in Accra yester­day said the ministry had processed the release of the money.

The press conference which forms part of the monthly economic update by the Ministry was to present high­light of the major economic strides the government has achieved in the month of August.

Addressing the public, the Minister of Finance said, he had instructed the Controller and Accountant-Gen­eral to release the funds to SEC to help mitigate the financial stress on the affected individuals.

The cabinet in 2024 granted the approval for the disbursement of an additional GH¢1.5billion to provide relief and bailout for those whose funds have been locked up in the fund management companies.

Dr Adam said the GH¢1.5 billion will be released in three tranches, in­dicating that "This amount will bring the number of investors to be fully settled under Blackshield to 82,096 representing 92 per cent and 12, 069 representing 78 per cent of the rest of the FMCs." The Finance Minister said that would bring the total number of investors fully settled under the bailout scheme to 94,165 (repre­senting 90 per cent) out of the total validated claims of 105,178. "This intervention is being done despite the tight fiscal space, evident of Government's commitment to provide relief to investors of the de­funct AMCs especially the pension­ers," Dr Adam stated.

Presenting a highlight on the state of the Ghanaian economy, the Finance Minister said the country "continue to see good progress on our macroeconomic stability and growth agenda." He said the agenda of government was centred on improving the lives and livelihood of the people whilst ensuring that we mitigate the impact of our policy adjustment on the poor and vulnerable.

He said "The progress we are witnessing, therefore, transcends macroeconomic stability and growth to include significant improvement in social protection." Dr Adam said the economy con­tinued to show signs of resilience and robustness, with the economy expanding by 4.7 per cent in the first quarter 2024, compared with 3.1 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2023 and the revised 2024 annual growth target of 3.1 per cent. "Although half-year Gross Do­mestic Product data has not yet been released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), recent data on Com­posite Index of Economic Activity published by the Bank of Ghana in­dicate a sustained pickup in economic activities. "The real CIEA recorded an annual growth of 3.3 per cent in May 2024 up from 2.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, compared to a contraction of 3.7 per cent in May 2023," he stated.

For instance, the Dr Adam said the strong disinflation process which started in 2023 continued to show further progress in response to the Bank of Ghana's tight monetary pol­icy stance, the strong fiscal consolida­tion efforts, and the improvement in exchange rate stability.

Inflation, he said had declined to 20.9 per cent in July 2024 from 22.8 per cent in June 2024 mainly on account of deceleration in both Food and Non-Food prices  BY KINGSLEY ASARE