Growth in investments slowed to 7.2% in February 2020 – BoG

Growth in investments, consisting of bills, securities, and equity fell to 7.2 percent in February 2020, the Bank of Ghana has said in its ‘Banking Sector Report for March 2020’.

However, in February 2019, growth in investment was at 33.3 percent.

The BoG blames this development partly on a reflection of the base effects of the special (long-term) resolution bonds issued to Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG), which increased the investment balance in February 2019.

Meanwhile, the total assets of the banking sector amounted to GH¢128.33 billion in February 2020 representing a year-on-year growth of 17.8 percent compared to 14.5 percent recorded in February 2019.

In the report, the central bank noted that banks recorded a stronger annual growth in total assets in February 2020 compared with a year earlier.

The strong growth in total assets was on the back of a rebound in credit growth. Gross loans and advances rose by 26.0 percent to GH¢45.91 billion in February 2020, following a subdued growth of 1.9 percent a year earlier.

“Similarly, net loans and advances (that is, after adjusting gross loans for provisions and interest in suspense), grew by 27.2 percent to GH¢40.47 billion against a marginal pick-up of 4.8 percent in February 2019.

“The rebound in credit growth underscores the positive impact of higher capital levels and sustained deposit growth in supporting intermediation. The cedi equivalent of foreign currency loans (net) went up slightly by 6.0 percent, indicating a decline in foreign currency loans in real terms during the period under review,” the BoG report said.

It added that Investments remain the largest component of banks’ assets but its contribution to growth in assets has waned.