Regulatory frameworks to improve financial system's overall resilience – BoG

In addition to the improvements in the macroeconomic environment and the performance of the banking sector, the Bank of Ghana says it has also worked to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory frameworks to improve overall resilience of the financial system.

Furthermore, Governor Ernest Addison says the ongoing work of the Ghana Deposit Protection Corporation and the Financial Stability Council will help to further strengthen the resilience of the banking sector and the protection of deposits.

Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Bankers' Governor's Day, Dr Addison said recent trends in the global regulatory developments mostly indicate that regulation is aimed at addressing emerging risks to the global financial system and facilitating the implementation of existing standards.

In particular, he noted that the BCBS issued standards on effective management and supervision of climate-related financial risks in June 2022.

Also, Dr Addison said the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) issued guidance on general requirements for disclosure of sustainability-related financial disclosures (IFRS S1) and climate-related disclosures (IFRS S2) in June 2023, both aimed at strengthening the disclosure and risk management function with respect to climate-related financial risk.

Considering this, he said the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana has set up a Steering Committee, with Bank of Ghana serving as a member, which is presently working on the adoption and implementation of the IFRS-S1 and IFRS-S2 disclosure requirements.

In addition, Dr Addison announced that the Bank of Ghana is developing a Directive on Climate-related Financial Risk Management.

Implementation of the Sustainable Banking Principles (SBPs), he reported, has "steadily progressed with significant improvement in banks’ reporting and compliance rate".

He said implementation of the Basel Capital Standards (issued in the 2018 notice on Capital Requirement Directive) has led to improvements in the quantity and quality of capital of banks.

Also, the introduction of capital buffers, Dr Addison indicated, "was a critical source of cushioning to banks against the impact of the pandemic and the more recent domestic debt restructuring".

He said the central bank will continue to roll out the Basel II/III capital standards aimed at enhancing and sustaining the resilience of the banking sector.

Additionally, he said banks’ compliance with the Corporate Governance Directive issued in 2018 has helped improve the quality of oversight of banks and has largely stemmed failures in the banking system.