It is better for the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to release funds to support the local economy following the impact of the coronavirus than the country going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for such a support, Dr Charles Ackah, an economist at the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) has said. The central bank is supporting the budget of...
The public will have to accept electronic payment channels as their default form of payment to stay safe, as scientists predict that the coronavirus will linger on for a while. This is because quite a number of electronic payment channels do not require physical contacts for payments to be effected. Ghana has been rolling out a number of measures to...
A Banking Consultant Nana Otuo Acheampong has said the covid- 19 pandemic has catapulted the banking sector into the future. He said “Banking is a security-conscious industry, in that we take the confidentiality of customers so seriously…so right now what the banks are doing is they are investing a lot in encryption and verification of identities so that they will...
The government of Ghana has launched three new policy initiatives designed to deepen financial inclusion and accelerate digital payments, in line with government’s vision of building a payment system that accelerates economic development. The policies are the National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy; Digital Financial Services Policy; and Cash-Lite Roadmap. Announcing them, Minister of Finance Ken-Ofori Atta said: “Digital payments...
The Ghana Association of Bankers has appointed Mr. John Awuah as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Association, and he will eventually take over from the current Chief Executive Officer, Mr. D.K. Mensah, when the latter retires later in the year. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Awuah was the Managing Partner of Jawuah & Co. Advisors Ltd., a management and...
The founder of Capital Bank William Ato is said to have begun negotiations with the Attorney General to have some of the charges brought against him dropped. This was disclosed in court by lawyers for Mr Essien, Thursday. According to the lawyers who led by Thadeus Sory, they are engaging the A-G based on section 35 of the courts’ act. This allows...
The total value of mobile money transactions at the end of March 2020 hit GHS33.8 billion, according to figures from the Bank of Ghana. This is against the GHS15.1 billion total value of transactions of cheques cleared in the month of March 2020. The deficit between mobile money transactions and cheque clearings was, however, GHS18.7 billion. Analysts believed the value of mobile...
THE Bank of Ghana (BoG) has justified its decision not to allow the payment of dividends by banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs), explaining the directive was meant to absorb any potential operational losses and support customers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank at a press briefing last Friday stressed that the motive behind the...
Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) could face exacerbated liquidity challenges in the times ahead if the impacts from coronavirus on the economy persist for long as they await payment of locked up investments with collapsed fund management firms. The future looks quite bleak for the rural banking space as the two main sources of income – loan portfolio and investment income...
By Augustine AMOAHTHE asset quality of the banking industry will be under threat if COVID-19 continues throughout the year, accounting firm, Deloitte has projected. This is mainly because industries with significant portions of bank credit, as at December 2019, are the hardest hit in Ghana. It is evidenced in the tourism and hospitality sectors (service industry), manufacturing, transport sector, commerce...
