Banking sector's Q1 growth vindicates clean-up – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that the decision of his government to reform Ghana’s banking sector has paid off greatly, since, according to him, the growth the sector experienced in the first quarter of 2019 justified the clean-up.

Speaking at the formal opening ceremony of the new Head office of CalBank, the "CalBank Tower" at Ridge, along the Independence Avenue, Nana Akufo-Addo said his government has made it clear that a vibrant banking and financial sector is at the heart of the efforts to ensure the rapid growth of the economy and the delivery of good-paying jobs for the citizenry.

"The role of banks to this end is critical. When banks do not become mere profit-making enterprises but see themselves as active partners with government in building a healthy, productive and robust economy, then we will be making significant progress," the President said.

"It is the very reason my government placed a lot of emphasis on reforming the banking sector, taking measures we deemed necessary to safeguard the stability and prospects of the economy", the President added.

Nana Akufo-Addo further indicated that it is evident that the measures the government took "saved the banking industry from a very dire situation characterized by the existence of several weakly-capitalized banks”, whose balance sheets were “entangled by a multitude of low-performing loans”, but were nonetheless “pursuing bad business models with poor governance practices and largely non-existent central bank regulation".

"These measures saved not only the deposits of some one-and-a-half million Ghanaians, their businesses and the people they employ but also minimized job losses in the banking sector," the President said.

The President congratulated CalBank for being an indigenous bank that has embraced best practices over the last 30 years to become one of the best-performing companies in Ghana.

"The government that I lead will continue to encourage our domestic champions to grow and take significant positions in key sectors of the economy. A careful glance of CalBank fortifies my belief that with hard work, ingenuity, innovation and creativity, we can, indeed, realize the vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid,” Mr. Akufo-Addo said.

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, on behalf of the board of the central bank, congratulated the board, the management and staff of CalBank on the opening of their new office complex.

"I encourage the management and staff to continue to maintain the highest standards of integrity, particularly in the area of corporate governance to maintain public confidence in CalBank", Dr. Addison said.

Paarock A. Vanpercy, Chairman of the Board of Directors; and Frank Brako Adu Jnr, Managing Director of CalBank, both addressed the gathering and reiterated the bank’s commitment to serving its customers professionally as it begins operations in its new office complex.