Monthly Archives - October 2021

GSE now 2nd best performing stock market in Africa; Lusaka Stock Exchange is 1st

The Ghana Stock Exchange which led the league of African stock exchanges as the best performing market in the first half of this year in dollar term, was beaten to the first position by the Lusaka Stock Exchange in the first nine months of this year. The impressive run by the Zambian kwacha against the dollar was the...

Cedi to record relative stability… to dollar in quarter 4 2021

The Ghana cedi will record relative stability to the dollar for the last quarter of this year, despite expected pressures during the Christmas period whereby traders will be importing goods to sell, Senior Economic Analyst at Databank Research, Courage Martey has said. He said the $1.5 billion Cocoa Syndication loan out of which $750 million was expected to hit the...

Securities and Exchange Commission rolls out regional education campaign

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rolled out a regional education campaign dubbed: “Time with The SEC,” which started in Takoradi. The initiative forms part of SEC’s strategic thrust of educating members of the investing public and other key stakeholders on the Commission, the Ghanaian Capital Market and other important investment topics. The Commission, in a press release issued in...

Rural Banks working to reduce cases of fraud – ARB Apex Bank

The ARB Apex Bank Limited, which serves as a “mini” central bank for Rural & Community Banks (RCBs) says the increase in different types of fraud in rural banks is a course for concern. According to the Bank of Ghana’s Banks & SDI Fraud Report for the year 2020, Banks and rural community banks recorded the highest cash suppression related...

Banks see deposits fluctuate over slow private sector recovery

Data published by the Bank of Ghana has shown that growth in deposits of commercial banks have been fluctuating in the last eight months, with figures in August even showing a decline, a development banking consultant, Dr. Richmond Atuahene, has attributed to the difficulty private sector is facing in the current pandemic-hit climate. The Summary of Economic and Financial report...

Digitalisation has made banks vulnerable to cyber-attacks – Dep. BoG Governor

The expansion of banking operations on digital platforms spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, has provided cyberattack opportunities to those who are up to no good, Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana has observed. Addressing cyber security risks, therefore, “has become more important than ever and policymakers need to internalise this fact in their discourse”, he...

Local insurers must not suffer fate of local banks

The National Insurance Commission (NIC) in June 2019 announced a new capital requirement for insurance companies operating in the country after a series of consultations and discussions between the industry players and the regulator. The new capital regime saw the stated capital for life and non-life insurance companies move from GH¢15 million to GH¢50 million, with that of reinsurance companies...

Only 11 banks are 5-star rated

…as maiden Banking Consumer Satisfaction Index report launched The Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) has carried out the country’s maiden Consumer Satisfaction Index (CSI) report, focusing on the banking sector for the pilot study. The index seeks to measure service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, as well as establish a standard customer satisfaction index for the banking industry, and...

GSE reviews new trading rules to check market volatility

Following more than a year of implementing Rule 30, the Ghana Stock Exchange has revealed that it is reviewing impacts of the amended guideline for further action to be taken. The Exchange in June 2020 alerted the stock market of intended implementation of its amended trading rules on price movement for the Exchange. Rule 30 – new trading rules – was...

Private sector challenges lead to soaring NPLs

Atuahene calls on gov’t to pay debt owed sector A new report by the Bank of Ghana has shown a worrying trend of growing non-performing loans in the assets of commercial banks, a situation banking consultant Dr. Richmond Atuahene blames on challenging economic conditions and government debt owed the private sector. The summary of Economic and Financial data (September 2021) has...