Government to insure national assets - Minister

Accra, Oct 31, GNA- Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, on Friday said Government was at the final stages of enacting an insurance law that would make sure that certain national assets were insured.

"It is unfortunate that national assets like the Accra Sports Stadium is not insured and that was why the people, who suffered from the stadium disaster had to rely on people's benevolence," he said.

The Minister said this when the Board Directors of the Ghana Reinsurance Company presented a cheque of three billion cedis as dividend to the Government for the 2002 financial year. The figure for 2001 was two billion cedis.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said Cabinet had approved the Bill and was now before Parliament for consideration.

When enacted, it would make sure that certain national assets, and certain places like markets were insured and strengthened. He said it was unfortunate that at present the bulk of freight insurance was carried out by foreign companies and said when the law is passed, it would strengthen the capital base of the Company for it to be able to collect the bulk of insurance in the country.

The Minister said Government was going to make sure that all companies and organization that it owned or had shares in paid dividend to it.

Mr Osafo-Maafo observed that Ghana's 12 per cent savings was one of the lowest in the West Africa Sub-Region, saying some countries had as high as 18 per cent and called upon Ghanaians to develop the habit of saving and insuring their properties.

Presenting the dividend, Mrs Christine Dowuona-Hammond, Chairperson of the Board, said as a result of prudent economic and financial measures instituted by the Government, the economy was relatively stable during the year.

She said this sound economic environment translated into the growth of the Ghana Re-insurance Company

The Chairperson of the Board said Gross premium income for the year 2002 grew by almost 50 per cent to 122.85 billion cedis from the 2001 level of 82.82 billion cedis.

She said this is has resulted in a net profit of 31.8 billion Cedis, a modest increase of 28 per cent over 2001 figure of 24 .9 billion.

Mrs. Hammond said in the light of stiff competition from both local and insurance companies, there is the need for the capital base of the economy to be strengthened.

She said the retrenchment exercise the company undertook has enhanced efficiency making the company more competitive.