Accra, Sept. 22, GNA - Delegates at the Ninth Annual Meeting of Banking Supervisors from West and Central Africa ended their meeting in Accra with a resolve to create a permanent secretariat to enhance co-ordination and smooth implementation of programmes.

A statement from the Bank of Ghana signed by Kassim Yahya, Head of Public Affairs Unit, said the decision to create a permanent secretariat was unanimously approved by member countries after the Central Bank Of Africa (COBA) rendered a deliberation on a proposed budget for hosting the secretariat.

The resolution stressed training programmes for Junior and Middle Level Supervisors in areas such as New Capital Accord, Electronic Banking, Risk-Based Supervision and Corporate Governance in Financial Institutions.

In efforts to harmonise supervisory practices, member countries agreed to forward their prudential regulations, current banking laws and supervisory practices as well as bank rating and provisioning methodologies to the chairman of the committee.

Member countries also adopted the resolution to contact Rwanda, Liberia and Democratic Republic of the Congo and other countries to guarantee their participation in the programs of the committee. Dr Samuel Nii Ashong, Minister of State for Finance and Economic Planning, said, "the meetings of the committee should afford members the opportunity to deepen and update their knowledge and understanding of the state of banking and financial systems.

"Each sovereign nation represented at the meeting should appreciate the challenges that confront them as supervisors especially those related to new and un-chartered global exigencies, as their economies integrate at the regional level," he said.

Dr Ashong said, "as supervisors your primary duties is to ensure that banking systems are safe and sound and that this fundamental objective is sine qua non for the conduct of sound monetary policy" Mr Emmanuel Asiedu-Mante, First Deputy Governor, Bank of Ghana, said, "the harmonization of global supervisors requires the adoption of uniform regulatory framework and practices as well as exchange of information and ideas among supervisors within their own jurisdictions and among different financial sectors".

Mr Joseph Clottey, Head, Banking Supervision Department, Bank of Ghana, was elected Chairman for the next meeting to be held in Nigeria. Mr Clottey in his statement said: "The committee is set up to provide a forum for regular contact and cooperation among member countries on matters of banking supervision".

The Committee would also coordinate efforts among members with the view to evolving minimum standards to address the peculiar supervisory difficulties and facilitate training for banking supervisors. Members, who attended the meeting, were from the Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan, Burundi, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, La Commission Bancaire de l'Afrique Central (COBAC) and the La Commission Bancaire de l'Union Monetaire Ouest Africaine (UMOA).

There were also observers from the West Africa Monetary Institute.