The Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) has pleaded with the government and demanded that insurance companies be exempted from the looming domestic debt exchange programme proposed by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The group’s President, Mr Seth Kobla Akwasi, disclosed that over 40 per cent of their total assets for the third quarter of 2022 was invested in Government of Ghana Securities. Owing to this, he indicated if the government includes the insurance sector, it will hugely affect the insurance companies.
“According to data from NIC, insurance companies invested over GH¢1.5 billion in deposits with licensed banks and money market mutual funds. Considering the fact that these banks and fund management companies have also invested in the government of Ghana securities, the debt exchange will further compound the investment base of the insurance industry, since 40% of our investments are directly exposed to the government of Ghana securities an additional 10% exposure from the licensed banks and fund managers will further worsen our situation.”
Mr Seth Kobla Akwasi
Mr Seth Kobla Akwasi underscored the importance of the insurance industry to the country at this crucial time the country currently finds itself.
“In uncertain times like this, entities must protect their assets through insurance, which is a key risk management tool. Anything short of an exemption will have far-reaching consequences for the insurance industry and the important role they play in protecting the assets and liabilities of this country. This will also discourage the citizenry from taking up life and annuity policies”.
Mr Seth Kobla Akwasi
In the absence of the foregoing, the group’s President iterated that the insurance and reinsurance companies will be happy to cede all our claims to the financial stabilisation fund.
GIA is the latest in a long streak of unions and groups to kick against the government’s debt exchange programme. Recently, in a similar statement issued by the Ghana Securities Industry Association (GSIA), it indicated it cannot accept the programme announced by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in the 2023 budget. “We, at the GSIA understand the difficult crossroads at which our nation currently finds itself and the difficult choices that need to be made to set us on the path to debt sustainability. However, we are unable to accept the bond exchange program announced by the Minister of Finance in its present form”.
The government is currently negotiating a programme with the International Monetary Fund for a $3-billion credit facility programme, thus, necessitating the debt restructuring exercise. “Under the programme, domestic bondholders will be asked to exchange their instruments for new ones”, Mr Ofori-Atta announced Sunday evening (4th December 2022), adding “Existing domestic bonds as of 1st December 2022 will be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032 and 2037”. Also, “the annual coupon on all of these new bonds will be set at 0% in 2023, 5% in 2024 and 10% from 2025 until maturity. Coupon payments will be semi-annual”.
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