Akufo-Addo approves GHC15.6bn to pay depositors of collapsed financial firms

President Nana Akufo-Addo has granted executive approval for the expenditure of GHC15.6 billion to save the funds of depositors of the various financial institutions that have collapsed as well as shore up the liquidity of the financial sector.

A letter addressed to the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, by the President’s Executive Secretary Nana Asante Bediatuo, said: “The President has granted executive approval for an expenditure of up to fifteen billion six hundred million Ghana cedis (GHC15,600,00,00.00) toward protecting depositors and investors of failed financial institutions and to improve liquidity of the financial sector”.

In the past two years, the Bank of Ghana’s reforms has led to the collapsed of nine local banks, 347 microfinance institutions and some 23 finance houses.

The collapse of the nine local banks birthed the state-owned Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) Limited.

Heritage Bank Limited (HBL) was one of the last two collapsed banks to have been added to Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited (CBG), which was first formed when the central bank collapsed some five local banks in August 2018.

On 1 August 2018, the Bank of Ghana announced the consolidation of the failed local banks.

They included the Royal Bank, The Beige Bank, The Construction Bank, Sovereign Bank and uniBank.

Later on, HBL and Premium Bank were added to the first five.

The BoG on 14 August 2017, approved the takeover of UT Bank and Capital Bank, by the state-owned GCB Bank Limited.

Also, the Securities and Exchange Commission recently revoked the licences of 53 fund management companies.