World Bank supports Ghana to reform pensions system

desmond frimpong

June 14, 2018 2:39 PM

“The World Bank is therefore committed to working with the Government of Ghana on developing a smarter and sound pensions system that is affordable for the economy and protects the elderly,” the country director stated.

Pensions are crucial in supporting thousands of Ghanaians after retirement, that is coming from the World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Henry K.G. Kerali.

According to Kerali, the World Bank’s analysis indicates that the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) is currently spending about 1% of GDP on providing pensions, which support about 0.4% of the population.

This, he noted, does not include other pension spending in Ghana for retirees of some of the public services.

“20% of Ghana’s population will in future need old age support, this will require a proportionately higher expenditure. It is therefore critical to take a close look at what changes might be made now before workers join the system with the expectation of a pension upon retirement,” he stated.

He made these statements at the Pensions Reform Options Simulation Toolkit (PROST) training in Accra.

Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah also said Ghana was introducing some critical reforms to the pension regime in line with the country’s medium-term development objectives.

These include transfer of all Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA) Funds held at Bank of Ghana to the Custodian Banks of Registered Schemes, Unification of all multiple public-sector pension schemes, and guaranteeing the sustainability of the three-tier pension scheme.

desmond frimpong