Banks 'wrongly' collapsed due to 'political reasons' must be restored if proven - Economist

Renowned economist, Kwame Pianim has opined that commercial banks that were 'wrongly' collapsed due to political reasons must be granted back their operating licenses following the clean-up undertaken by the Bank of Ghana.

He believes that once it has been proven that these banks were collapsed for the said political reasons as suggested by some analysts, the licenses of these financial institutions must be restored.

In an interview with Accra-based TV3, Kwame Pianim said, “licensed banks which are proven to have been revoked for political reasons should be reversed.”

His remarks come on the back of a pledge made by former president John Dramani Mahama who has vowed to restore the licenses of collapsed banks which he believes were ‘unjustly’ collapsed, once given the nod in the 2024 general elections.

The re-elected flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress on May 13 said, “We will restore indigenous Ghanaian investments in the finance and banking sector and we will create a tier banking system that will serve various segments of the market.

“We will give the opportunity to experience banking hands who were laid off needlessly to secure their careers once more and move away from the menial jobs that they were compelled to take. As far as practicable the banking licenses that were unjustly canceled by this government will be restored,” he added.

Meanwhile, a financial analyst, Joe Jackson, has questioned how the former president will restore the operating licenses of the defunct banks.

In his view, the move will somewhat be difficult due to the wave of challenges in the financial sector at the time which called for the Central Bank’s intervention to safeguard depositor’s funds.

He explained that the decision by the Bank of Ghana remains justified despite some disagreement with the process at which some banks became insolvent.

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