The Second Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Elsie Addo Awadzi, has reassured stakeholders in the banking industry that despite current economic headwinds and debt restructuring efforts, the sector remains robust, liquid and solvent.

According to her, prior to the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, banking sector clean-up exercise and recapitalisation of banks ensured that the industry had the required capital and liquidity to contain macroeconomic shocks.

“Indeed, our banking sector remains solvent and liquid even after the pandemic, in the face of recent macroeconomic challenges, and in particular the Government debt restructuring efforts.

It is worth mentioning that the banking sector clean-up and recapitalisation efforts before the onset of the pandemic, provided the industry with the necessary capital and liquidity buffers to withstand the pandemic and the recent macroeconomic challenges.”

She made this known at an event to launch the ABSA SME Loan at 10% proposition to Small and Medium Enterprises operating in the country.

Despite the ongoing challenges, the Second Deputy BoG Governor noted the banking sector must not become complacent and therefore called for stringent measures by banks aimed at rebuilding buffers to secure long-term resilience.

She however maintained that SMEs in the country continue to play a vital role in the economic development which requires inclusive financial systems to support their growth and resilience.

“While regulating and supervising banks to promote their safety and soundness, the Bank of Ghana expects banks to be more inclusive in their product and service offerings to ensure that all economic actors in Ghana are able to access much-needed finance to grow their businesses and contribute to the growth of our economy”

“We also expect banks to deploy the funding available to them into more lending to the private sector especially to SMEs, within the framework of robust credit underwriting and risk management,” she concluded.

MA/FNOQ