I’ll restore confidence of Ghanaians in the banking system – Mahama promises

Former President John Dramani Mahama has said a future National Democratic Congress(NDC) government will restore the confidence of Ghanaians in the banking system.

Speaking in his first Facebook live streaming monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Mr. Mahama said the Akufo-Addo government has taken a chaotic approach in the banking sector clean up.

“The Policy Working Group on Finance and Economy that I set up recently is studying and analyzing the situation with a view to coming up with pragmatic steps that we can employ, not only to restore the confidence of our people in the banking system, but also ameliorate the suffering imposed on the customers and staff of these financial institutions caused by the poor handling of the crisis by this administration."

“The group will also come up with plans for restoring the indigenous stake and participation in this all-important sector. We will consider ways to promote greater financial inclusion and innovation, and will consider setting up an appropriate vehicle to regulate microfinance and allied sectors in particular, while developing the rural banking system and enhancing the role of the ARB-APEX Bank’s supervisory structure, ” he said.

He further noted “Was the revocation the best option at this circumstance or there was no option? Our central bank chose the chaotic situation with accompanying huge debt where the government has no clue on how to clear it. Revocation of licenses would have been the last resort and not the first resort. No country is immune to crisis in the financial sector,” he said.

Bank of Ghana on Friday, 16th August, 2019, revoked the licenses of 23 savings and loans companies.

This follows a similar action a year ago when the regulator in 2018 ordered a purchase and assumption agreement that saw GCB Bank subsumed UT and Capital Banks. Five other banks were closed down completely in their stead, forming Consolidated Bank Ghana.