The Banking Sector Developments Report – September 2021, has revealed that total assets of the banking industry increased by 16.7 percent year-on-year to GH¢166.4 billion as at end-August 2021, although lower than the 23.8 percent growth recorded in the same period of 2020 due to the lingering impact of COVID-19. The asset growth reflected the rebound in economic activity, with...
Executive Director of the Association of Rural Banks, Ghana, Comfort Owusu, has urged shareholders of rural banks to see the regulator’s directive to suspend payment of dividend as a good measure to sustain their investments and keep their banks in business. Executive Director of the Association of Rural Banks, Ghana, Comfort Owusu, has urged shareholders of rural banks to see the regulator’s...
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana is projected to increase the policy rate to 14 percent, in the light of consistent increases in inflation for the past few months, since May 2021 low of 7.5 percent. For a fifth consecutive month, consumer inflation in the month of October 2021 rose to 11 percent; exceeding by one percent, the...
Banks in Ghana are well liquid to withstand shocks, the Banking Sector Developments Report – September 2021, released by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has revealed. The report said “The banking sector performance improved with strong capital buffers to withstand shocks in AugustThis was underpinned by sustained growth in total assets, deposits, and profits amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy...
Ghana’s foreign reserves have improved significantly and are sufficient to cover more than five months of prospective imports, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has indicated. The country’s foreign reserves as of August 2021, stood at $11.4 billion. Foreign reserves are funds central banks exchange with each other at an international level and the reserves can either be in gold or in...
Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison has called for a multidimensional integrated solutions approach to tackle the inherent frictions in cross-border payments in Africa. According to the World Economic Forum, payments which have always been the lifeblood of trade will be key for intra-African trade, which covers 55 countries with varying financial and monetary systems, especially with...
Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison has said digitisation of bank accounts has enabled customers to conduct financial services through online platforms in a seamless manner without stepping foot in the banking hall. The positive aspect of these, he said, is the broad acceptability of these technology driven financial services due to its convenience, efficiency and affordability. Governor...
The importance of good corporate governance in building strong institutions, communities, and economies, and helping to avoid the collapse of businesses cannot be overemphasized, Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, has said. “From time immemorial, corporate failures had had their roots in poor corporate governance,” Dr Addison stated this. In a speech read on his behalf by...
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, has said that the strong regulatory and supervisory frameworks underpinning Ghana’s payment systems has enhanced the financial digitization process. However, he said, digitisation has come with risks which threaten customer trust and has the potential to unwind the gains of acceptability of digital products and services. He explained that issues of cybercrime,...
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued guidelines to regularise the operations of credit rating agencies (CRA) in the country, allowing for an independent evaluation of the creditworthiness of debt securities on the Ghana Fixed Income Market. Per the new guidelines issued last week, SEC requires that any foreign company that is licenced as a CRA in another country but...
