Gov’t clears GH¢1.05bn SSNIT debt, no arrears carried into 2026 – Director General reveals

The government has fully settled the GH¢1.05 billion it owed the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) for 2024, with more than 70 percent of the payments made in cash, according to SSNIT Director-General Kwasi Afreh Biney.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, Mr. Biney disclosed that the state cleared the entire outstanding amount by the end of March 2025, marking a significant improvement in the government's pension contribution obligations.

“Most of the payments have been cash, in fact, more than 70% of the payments have been cash,” he said.

He explained that the only exception occurred during the final quarter of 2024 when the government used a short-term financial instrument to settle part of its obligations.

“The only time that there was an instrument was from October to December last year. So we had an instrument issued in December, which was a T-bill, so it's actually a short-term instrument maturing this year that was issued for October, November, and December,” he stated.

According to Mr. Biney, apart from that arrangement, all payments made from last year through to the present have been settled in cash.

The SSNIT Director-General revealed that the government had accumulated arrears amounting to GH¢1.05 billion in 2024 but succeeded in clearing the entire debt within the first quarter of the following year.

“So, for 2024, the government owed 1 billion and 50 million cedis, but by the end of March 2025, the government had paid that in cash,” he said.

Mr. Biney further disclosed that the government entered 2025 without any outstanding contribution arrears, a development he described as unprecedented.

“2025, there's no arrears, we didn't enter,” he noted.

He added that the government had gone beyond simply clearing its debts by making advance payments ahead of future obligations.

“In fact, by the time we're entering 2026, the government had actually paid ahead,” he revealed.

Explaining the contribution schedule, Mr. Biney said employers are required to make contributions by the 14th day of the month following the period for which payments are due.

He noted that while contributions for May would ordinarily be expected by June 14, the government had already demonstrated a proactive approach to meeting its obligations.

“Government in December last year actually made part payment of the bill that will be due in January for December last year,” he said.

As a result, when the new year began, the government owed only a portion of its December 2025 contribution, a situation Mr. Biney described as a first in SSNIT’s history.

“In December last year, so by the time we got into January this year, the government only owed a portion of the December 2025 contribution, and that had never happened,” he added.

The development signals a notable turnaround in the government's relationship with the national pension scheme, with SSNIT now reporting zero arrears and evidence of advance payments toward future obligations.