Wampah's successor must check microfinance companies - Mantey

Dr. Henry Wampah’s successor must focus on roping in the unbanked population into the banking system as well as ensuring that microfinance companies operate within the rules and regulations, that’s according to a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Emmanuel Asiedu Mantey.

The appointment of a new governor is expected following the early retirement of Dr. Wampah on Thursday.

The outgoing governor’s three year tenure was characterized by high inflation, unstable currency and operations of unregulated microfinance companies which led to the loss of over 97 million cedis worth of customers’ deposits in the DKM saga.

In an interview with Starr News, Mr. Asiedu Mantey said whoever is appointed to head the Central Bank would have to address some pending challenges in the financial sector.

“Interest rate is very high, policy rate is around 26 percent obviously there are pressures there and whoever comes in would have handle that.

“There are still a large chunk of people who are unbanked and trying to rope them into the banking system is a challenge people still prefer to keep money at home not withstanding all the banks and branches we have...so that area is still a challenge.”