CBG well capitalized, and has good asset - BoG

Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Elsie Awadzi, has disclosed that Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG) Limited is very well capitalized and has good asset base for its operations.

Speaking on the Super Morning Show on Joy 99.7 FM on Tuesday, Madam Awadzi said the bank is more resilient now than it was in the initial stages.

The Deputy Governor noted that the managers of CBG initially had to manage liquidity ahead of the release of cash from the bond issued in its name and that is why it appeared as though the bank had liquidity challenges.

She further revealed that the Consolidated Bank detected some accounting anomalies between the erstwhile banks which also caused some delay in customers receiving their funds.

“Due to the state of records by some of the erstwhile banks, CBG was unable to pay depositors their monies initially, since some of the banks had co-mingled bank accounts with capital market accounts and investment accounts. So, when the depositors came with their receipts to take their claims, it turned out that the accounts did not exist and that is was rather a claim on the investment wing of the group and not the erstwhile bank”.

“Now I can say for a fact that CBG is well capitalized, liquid, solvent and has a good asset on its books; it’s now doing business,” she said.

According to her, BOG has made available cash from the bond issued in the name of CBG. She stated that the move has helped in positioning the bank to undertake normal banking business.

“The Bank of Ghana actually has monetized that bond, what that means is that we have literally bought the bond of Consolidated bank and we have given them cash. So, the initial liquidity problems of the five are not there; Consolidated bank has a lot of resources. They’ve got three billion Cedis from Bank of Ghana and they have that liquidity to do business with,” she explained.