President Nana Akufo-Addo says Receivers of collapsed microfinance institutions, savings and loans companies will from Monday, February 24 start paying depositors who have had their monies locked up due to the financial sector clean-up. According to him, GH¢5 billion will be released by the government to settle all depositors of the defunct microfinance and savings & loans companies. This is expected to increase the cost of servicing locked-up funds as a result of the financial services sector crisis, to GHS 18 billion. “All depositors of savings and loans and microfinance institutions including DKM, which collapsed in 2015, will receive 100 percent of their deposits once the validation exercise is concluded”. “I’m informed that the Receiver of the savings and loans and microfinance institutions will begin, on Monday 24 February 2020, making payments to their customers of these monies totaling GHS5 billion being an addition to the GHS13 billion being paid to customers of the failed banks.” According to the President, his government took the right decision with regard to the reforms undertaken in the financial services sector. "We inherited a collapsing financial sector. The government is having to conjure up to GH¢13 billion to pay the customers of those institutions. This is money we can ill-afford" "We will hold all those responsible for the collapse of the financial institutions to account, a process that has already started," Akufo-Addo said. President Akufo-Addo said this on the floor of parliament when he made the State of the Nation Address in Accra on February 20. This year’s State of the Nation Address is Akufo-Addo’s fourth and last in his first term as President of the Republic. His address is in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and the Standing Orders of the Parliament of Ghana. The address is to update Ghanaians on the government’s progress and outline plans for the next financial year. The president’s speech covers, in broad terms, areas such as the economy, education, health, security and infrastructure.