Focus your energies on long-term lending rate reduction — Economist urges Bawumia, EMT

A renowned political risk analyst and economist, Dr. Theo Acheampong, has called on Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia and the Economic Management Team (EMT) to make interest rates reduction a priority.

In a post on social media, Dr. Acheampong said "WE MUST BRING LENDING RATES DOWN IN GHANA."

He added "I expect Ghana’s VP, EMT, and their team to spend their energies more on how to get interest rates down to, say, 15% in the medium to long term."

The economist noted that high lending rates pose a major challenge, excluding many from accessing credit and hampering business competitiveness when banks lend at over 30%.

To buttress his point, Dr. Acheampong compiled commercial bank lending rate averages since 2001, suggesting that NPP had reduced rates more than the NDC.

"President Akufo-Addo has also had an average commercial bank lending rate of 24.91% (a 2.27% reduction relative to the Mahama record)," he noted.

With Ghana's relatively high inflation contributing to high rates, the analyst believes sustained efforts are needed to lower costs in the long-run.

His call comes weeks after Dr. Bawumia promised an individual credit scoring system by 2024.