Monthly Archives - November 2020

Establishment of National Development Bank on course …as institutions pledge more support

The processes to establish a National Development Bank to accelerate the country’s socioeconomic development are on course, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said. The President who said this in a speech read on his behalf by the Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo during the launch of the Ghana COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprise Support (CARES) Programme in Accra...

Embrace digital payment – Ursula urges Ghanaians

The Minister of Communication, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has urged Ghanaians to embrace digital payments for a secure, convenient and low-cost financial service delivery, as the country moves to a cash-lite society. The Vice-President of Ghana, on Thursday, November 19, 2020, formally outdoored the Universal QR code payment system, which he used to buy local cuisine 'waakye' at Auntie Muni’s at...

Average lending rates fall to 21.26% – BoG

Average lending rates of commercial banks have fallen by 0.11% between August 2020 and October 2020. However, between January 2020 and October 2020, it has gone down by 1.8%. Though marginal, it comes as a good omen because cost of borrowing in the country keeps easing. According to the Bank of Ghana’s November 2020 Summary of Financial and Economic Data, Ghana’s reference...

EOCO to prosecute directors of collapsed Fund Management firms

Anti-graft institution, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), says it intends to prosecute Directors of the collapsed 53 Fund Management Companies (FMCs). Speaking at the second edition of the Time with the Commission engagement series on Thursday, November 19, Acting Deputy Director for Financial Intelligence Monitoring at EOCO, Abba Poku, stated Directors of the collapsed FMCs should be made to pay...

Stakeholders in banking sector hopeful of more digital means of providing services

In a world where technology seems to be permeating every facet of life, stakeholders in the banking industry are hopeful of a complete digital transformation in all transactions. The COVID-19 pandemic, which unexpectedly hit every sector in the world forced individuals and companies to come up with innovative ways to survive. Most people ended up working from home, with a lesser...

Gov’t orders ‘partial payment’ of locked-up funds of Gold Coast customers, others

All customers of Gold Coast Fund Management (Blackshield) as well as others who were not covered by an earlier bailout package, are to now enjoy partial payment of their locked-up funds up to GHS50,000, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced in a statement dated Wednesday, 18 November 2020. It said “acting within its mandate of protecting investors and...

Bankers to fight fraud among bank workers

The Chartered Institute of Bankers in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Ghana Association of Bankers will soon launch the Ghana Banking Code of Ethics to tackle fraud cases among bank workers President of the Institute, Patricia Sappor told Citi FM that her outfit is dedicated to supporting the reduction of fraud cases within the banking sector and enhance...

GhIPSS and its CEO pick GITTA award again

The Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) and its Chief Executive, Archie Hesse have for the second year running won awards at the prestigious Ghana Information Technology & Telecom Awards (GITTA) held in Accra. Mr. Hesse was adjudged the Payment Systems Personality of the Year, while GhIPSS won the Payments and Clearing Technology Provider of the Year. The awards...

BoG issues risk management guidelines for RCBs to protect institutions from losses

The Bank of Ghana has issued a Risk Management guidelines for Rural & Community Banks to ensure among other things a well-structured approach to risk management that meets the minimum standards of RCBs as well as protect them from losses. The guidelines set out the minimum standard provisions on policies and procedures that would have to be covered in the...

Economists urge MPC to maintain policy rate at 14.5%

Some economists have advised the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which meets this week to consider its next policy move that will be announced on November 23, to maintain the policy rate at 14.5 percent given the upside risk to inflation. Inflation has declined from 11.4 percent in July to 10.1 percent in October, reaching the lowest rate since...