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Banking sector clean-up saved 7,000 jobs — Prez. Akufo-Addo

Business News of Friday, 13 December 2019

Source: www.citibusinessnews.com

2019-12-13

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-AddoPresident Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that the financial sector clean up prevented about 7,000 people from losing their jobs.

The financial sector reforms spearheaded by the Bank of Ghana saw 9 banks lose their licenses as well as 23 savings and loans and finance houses. More than 340 microfinance companies spread across the country were also shut down over various regulatory breaches.

The President, speaking at an interaction with journalists at the Jubilee House said although 3,000 people lost their jobs in the aftermath of the clean-up, that number could have been more if the central bank had not intervened.

“If we had not intervened, all 10,000 jobs would have gone out of the window. The situation we inherited when we came was characterized by poor regulations, poor governance practices, lots of irrecoverable debt…

“If we had allowed it to continue a day longer, it would have collapsed the financial sector. And instead of losing 3,000 jobs, we would have lost 10,000 jobs,” the President told journalists.

Nana Akufo-Addo stated that the financial sector challenges took his administration by surprise, adding that the funds used to protect depositors’ funds could have been put to other use.

The cost of the financial sector reforms is estimated to be around GH¢15.6 billion.

The Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta recently wrote to Parliament to seek approval for the amount to be expended in protecting depositors’ funds.

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