Average lending rate or cost of loans have fallen by 2.59% to 21.10% within the last one year, the Bank of Ghana has revealed in its January 2020 Summary of Financial and Economic Data. But between October 2020 and December 2020, interest charged on loans went down by 0.16%. Though cost of borrowing is still high compared to the nation’s peers...
The positive performance of the Ghana Stock Exchange in the last quarter of 2020 has continued into the first month of 2021, with the local bourse returning to investors a gain of 4.3 % in January 2021. This is the first gain recorded in January since 2018. The years 2018 and 2019 saw the local bourse returning negative 0.5% and...
Data released by the Bank of Ghana at the weekend has confirmed the depth of Ghana’s fiscal troubles – the fiscal deficit for 2021 is a record high, propelled by the effects of COVID 19 on public finances and the economy as a whole, and this has accelerated the growth of the public debt to well beyond the generally...
After five years of dedicated and growth-oriented service to Universal Merchant Bank (UMB), Mr. Benjamin Amenumey has completed his tenure as UMB’s CEO making way for the appointment of Nana Dwemoh Benneh as the bank’s new Chief Executive Officer, following the approval of the Central Bank. In a statement issued by UMB, Mr. Benjamin Amenumey said “working with a team...
The results of the first of the 24 forward foreign exchange auctions scheduled by the Bank of Ghana for 2021 indicate that the local forex market remains confident that the cedi will hold its own against the United States dollar at least through to the end of the first quarter of the year. Altogether there were 136 bids for various volumes of...
The Board of GCB Bank Limited has announced the appointment of Mr. Emmanuel Odartey Lamptey as the new Deputy Managing Director (DMD) – Operations. Mr Lamptey was sworn in as the DMD Operations and Executive Director of the Bank on Wednesday, 20th January 2021 by Justice Sophia Bernasko Essah, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ghana. The swearing-in ceremony was witnessed...
Governor of the Bank of Ghana Dr. Ernest Addison says the commencement of operations of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) requires the building of a competitive Ghanaian economy. According to the Governor, the effects of a strong Ghanaian economy will ensure that local businesses win against their rivals from other African countries. Responding to a question by Citi Business News on...
The Bank of Ghana has indicated its firm commitment to preserve the stability of the cedi going forward, particularly in the first quarter of this year. This comes after the local currency lost about 3.9% in value to the dollar the whole of last year. Usually, the local currency goes through some pressures in the first quarter of every year though...
Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, has admonished credit unions to remain compliant and pick-up lessons from the financial sector clean-up exercise. According to him, this would enable credit unions operating in the country to avoid falling prey to a reoccurrence of the clean-up exercise that affected various financial institutions. Speaking at the biennial conference of...
Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service is projecting a reversal of the improving trend in Ghanaian banks’ financial metrics, with loan quality to be hit hardest, resulting from the impact of the coronavirus-induced economic disruption. In its latest 2021 outlook for banks in Africa, Moody’s is anticipating nonperforming loans (NPLs) to potentially double from 2019 levels as payment holidays expire,...
