Banks Can’t Thrive Under NPP’s ‘Tight’ Economy – Ofosu Ampofo

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has attributed the 'collapse' of banks in the country to what it calls the poor management of Ghana's economy by the Akufo-Addo government.

In an interview with Citi News, Director of Elections of the NDC, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said banks could not thrive under the current economy.

“The health of the economy is not good. People don't have jobs to do so they cannot even survive let alone to save something. It is also a reflection of the state of the economy of the country.

“If you don't have money to eat, how do you save? You have to put body and soul together before you think of saving. People don't have money. The economy is tight; people hardly can make ends meet so the banks cannot meet the threshold that have been set by the Bank of Ghana.”

Also, Mr. Ofosu Ampofo partly blamed the 'collapse', on loans government, took from some of the banks.

He said, “They [banks] loaned out money to contractors who were working on GETfund projects, cocoa road, and others. The practice is that when the contractors are paid, the contractors [who have taken] bank loans, pay back the bank; the bank is able to manage the resources, and then they turn it round to sustain the banking activities”.

“Now for about one and half years into office, several contractors who are doing government projects have not been paid. They took loans from the banks and so definitely you'll have the banks be in such a distress situation. If the government had paid the contractors [who] owe the banks, they wouldn't have found themselves in such a distress situation”, he added.

The central merged BEIGE, Sovereign, Construction, UniBank, and Royal Banks into one entity, the Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited on Tuesday. According to the Central Bank, some of the banks obtained their licenses under false pretenses.

Blame BoG for 'collapse' of banks – PEF Boss

President of the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), Nana Osei Bonsu has criticized the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for its role in the current crisis in Ghana's banking sector.

Speaking on Citi TV's Point of View, Mr. Osei Bonsu said, the central bank is to blame for the current banking struggles.

“What is their [BoG] responsibility besides licensing these institutions? They are supposed to do due diligence. Do they have bank examiners [who] go into these banks to review the banks' operations and portfolio?” he quizzed.