We need to change the structure of the economy, there is something fundamentally wrong – Ohene Ntow

Nana Ohene Ntow, Former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and now senior advisor to independent presidential candidate Alan Kyerematen, has observed that there is something fundamentally wrong with the economy.

He wondered why Ghana imports commodities like tomatoes when the country should be in the position to produce them.

“How do we ensure that our economy develops real value rather than speculative value?”The economy has been going fundamentally in the wrong direction. we need to change the structure of the economy, we need a leader who can be trusted and here I will mention Alan Kyeramen,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, June 8 while contributing to the GHS10.5 billion losses of the Bank of Ghana in 2023.

For his part, a Banking Consultant, Dr Richmond Atuahene said that the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, has initiated policies that will eventually mitigate the losses that the central bank experiences.

He referred to the Higher Cash Reserves for commercial banks as the main action of the governor that would curtail the losses of the BoG.

BoG’s GHS10.5bn loss in 2023 was in line with experiences of central banks globally – Addison

Dr Atuahene said ” he has increased high cash reserves, this will mitigate the loss.

“This year they may come closer to breaking even because they now have almost cheap money from the banks or the losses will be minimal.”

Bank of Ghana’s higher cash reserve requirement for commercial banks is counterproductive – Kwakye

The Central Bank at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting in March 2024 announced an adjustment for the existing Cash Reserve Ratio of 15% with a now graduated ratio based on the existing loan to the loan-to-deposit ratio.

They were banks with a Loan to Deposit ratio above 55% will have to meet a CRR of 15%, banks with a Loan to Deposit ratio between 40% to 55% will have to meet a CRR of 20% and banks with Loan to Deposit ratios below 40% will be required to hold a CRR of 25%.

Addressing the 117th Monetary Policy Committee Press Conference in  Accra on Monday, March 25, Governor of the BoG, Dr Ernest Addison said “Money market rates continued on a downward trend at the short end of the yield curve. The 91-day and 182-day Treasury bill rates declined to 27.87 percent and 30.34 percent in February 2024, from 35.67 percent and 35.73 percent respectively, in the same period of 2023. Similarly, the rate on the 364-day instrument decreased to 30.90 percent in February 2024 from 34.92 percent in February 2023.

“The banking sector’s performance has rebounded after the implementation of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP). In the first two months of 2024, total assets of the Banks increased by 21.0 percent, while total deposits and advances rose by 25.5 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

“Trends in key financial soundness indicators were mixed. The Capital Adequacy
Ratio, adjusted for reliefs, was 13.6 percent in February 2024, above the regulatory
minimum threshold of 13.0 percent, compared with 12.6 percent in February 2023.
Liquidity and profitability ratios also improved compared to a year earlier.”

 

 

 

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