President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has proven to be a sound banker to the government and a safe custodian of the country’s money.
He said the Central Bank had distinguished itself to the admiration of all well-meaning people and had also been an efficient currency manager, a reliable source of liquidity and a dependable lender of last resort.
The President made the commendation during the Bank’s end-of-year cocktail event in Accra.
He said one of the challenges his government met when they came into power in 2017 was the state of the banking industry, where many of the Banks and financial institutions were in distress and kept on unsustainable life support by the then central bank.
“The supervisory agencies of the BoG were not performing their duties, which allowed weak governance management structures in Banks to fester,” he added.
He said when COVID-19 struck with dire consequences for the country, the BoG with the support of the Commercial Banks, instituted the GH¢3 billion credit and stimulus package to help revitalize industries, especially the pharmaceutical, hospitality and manufacturing sectors.
“We have all seen the effects of this intervention, evidenced by the growth of the economy,” he said.
He said the banks were in a desperate situation and radical measures had to be taken to prevent the collapse of the financial sector.
The President said the BoG under the new leadership intervened and restored sanity in the sector and the process saved the funds of 4.6 million depositors.
Government funds of GH¢21 billion were used for the clean-up exercise which has enabled a more robust financial sector to emerge to better finance the rapid development of the country.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, whose effects were exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict called for some corrective measures to address the imbalances and restore stability and with the support of the BoG, macro-economic stability was restored.
“The BoG has supported the government by providing a sound platform to underpin the government’s economic diversification and transformation process,” the President said.
He said there was clear evidence that inflation was being contained and from 54 per cent in December 2022 to 26.4 per cent in November 2023, we are also witnessing sustained stability of the exchange rate.”
The President said the effective partnership between the BoG and the International Monetary Fund under the terms of the government’s programme with the fund is yielding the right results.
He said he was encouraged by the many corporate governance measures put in place by the BoG to mitigate future bank failures and ensure a strong banking sector to drive the agenda of transformation.
He said the recent policy measures introduced by the BoG were commendable and in line with efforts to move Ghana to a situation beyond aid.
“I have also taken a keen interest in the Bank’s role in the digitisation of the economy. The architecture of our payment system has been transformed completely and financial
inclusion has been deepened to ensure shared growth for all Ghanaians,” he added.
The BoG has won the Central Bank of the Year awards two times with the governor, Dr Ernest Addison, on one occasion being adjudged the Central Bank Governor of the Year.
He said this year had been challenging for the Bank but with the excellent leadership and the dedicated staff of the BoG, the Bank was able to surmount the difficulties and emerged even stronger.
He said the current economic challenges confronting the country required that every hand should be on deck, calling for stronger partnerships and a greater degree of policy coordination between the BoG and the Ministry of Finance.
This call is for the Bank within its remit of operational independence to play a pivotal role in helping to formulate and implement policies that will help usher in the desired economic transformation.
He urged the Management of the Bank to ignore the mischief of misguided elements and maintain its focus on executing its mandate.
