Barclays Bank to resume loans disbursement in July

Barclays Bank Ghana has announced it would resume loan disbursement by July this year, keeping an eye on lower interest rate for borrowers.

Lending operations of the financial institution has been suspended for the past one and half years, due to what officials say are high default rate in loan repayment.

Customers of Barclays, especially business club members, have not been enthused with the inability to access loans.

Managing Director, Benjamin Dabrah tells Luv Fm credit advancement will soon commence after the bank has completed a review of the existing loan portfolio.

He will however not promise every single business or person will get a loan. “What we're promising is that those businesses whose characteristics are in line with those who actually have the capacity to pay will see that we'll begin to extend more credit to them at lower interest rate than we've ever done”, the Barclays MD noted.

Mr. Dabrah emphasized the need for the Ghanaian banking industry to be conscious about the cost of high loan default to business. He said “if you look at every single bank in this country, the last year's performance particularly, the non-performing loan ratios have gone up and impairment loses are bigger than they've every been… and the higher the default rate, the higher the interest rates would be”.

He is however confident with the start of the Credit Referencing Bureau, there would be a deterrent to reduce the default rate to reflect in lower interest rates.

Barclays Bank has been holding a seminar for its Business Club members in Kumasi. About 200 members across the country are expected to embark on a business trip to China in September.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh