Total private pension funds grew by 26.8% in 2020, as compared to 33.4% in 2019, the Financial Stability Review of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has stated.

In monetary terms, as at the end of December 2020, total private pension funds stood at GHC22.02 billion, as compared to GHC17.36 billion at end-December 2019.

The report noted that the growth in private pension funds was remarkable, given the commencement of the decumulation of private pension funds and the granting of emergency access to pension benefits amid the pandemic.

The BoG report said investment of private pension funds was held primarily in the form of government securities, constituting 60.2% of the total.

Regulatory developments
In 2020, the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) collaborated with industry stakeholders to implement a number of key initiatives.

The objective was to contain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the pension sector and employees while enhancing the general outlook of the pension sector.

One key regulatory development, related to the COVID-19 pandemic was the granting of emergency access to third-tier pension funds which provided additional funds to contributors who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

The BoG report stated that “to enhance the cushioning given to contributors, the NPRA worked with the Ministry of Finance to grant tax waivers to members on the 3rd Tier pension scheme who accessed their benefits under the emergency withdrawal provision.”