The latest data on Annual Percentage Rates (APR) of interest charged on loans and credit advances and the Average Interest (AI) paid on deposits by banks released by the Bank of Ghana revealed that the industry average base rate as at February 28, 2017, was 26.9 per cent.

This saw a drop of 0.7 percent from the 27.6 percent recorded for the month of January 2017.

In all, the list covers 31 banks with the data based on figures available as at 28th February, 2017.

The APR is the true interest rate banks and non-bank financial institutions charge the public on loans and advances. It reflects the true cost of borrowing and includes charges and commissions levied by banks. Average interest paid on deposits is the average interest paid by banks on deposits over the period. Base rate reflects the minimum interest rate that can be charged on loans and advances.

According to the report, Standard Chartered Bank offers the lowest base rate on your loans while Unibank offers the highest base rate on your loans you take from the bank.

If you take a loan from the Standard Chartered Bank, you will be required to pay a minimum interest of 16.2 percent. Bank of Baroda is next with its interest on loans at 16.9 percent.

Stanbic Bank comes third with 1748 percent. Barclays Bank, Societe General, ADB and GCB Bank follow as fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh in that order with base rates pegged at 19.9, 20.8, 20.9 and 23.3 percent respectively.

Also, Fidelity bank’s base rate of 23.4 percent places it at 8th position while GN Bank, First Atlantic and Zenith banks occupied the 9th position with minimum interest on their loans at 23.6.

In addition, Ecobank and First National Bank ranked 10th while GT bank ranked 11th respectively. Their minimum interest rates on loans are 26.0 and 26.2 percent respectively.

At the 12th position is Bank of Africa with 27.6 percent while PBL occupies the 13th position with 27.6 percent.

Meanwhile loans and advances from UBA, Cal Bank and Access Bank attracted a minimum interest of 27.9, 28.4 and 28.7 percent respectively representing 14th, 15th and 16th positions.

FBN-Bank 29.1 percent, Sovereign Bank 29.8 percent, National Investment Bank offers 30.6, Omni Bank 30.0 percent, HFC Bank 30.1percent and UT Bank 31.0 percent to take the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21th and 22nd positions in that order.

However, indigenous bank, Unibank according to the report, offers the highest interest on loans. You will need to cough up as much as 42.1 percent if you have to take a facility at Unibank.

It is preceded by the Royal bank, Capital Bank, Sahel Sahara Bank and Energy Bank. Their rates are 35.5 percent, 33.7, 32.5 and 31.6 percent.

Meanwhile the average deposit rate for commercial banks also dropped from 11.9 percent as at January 31st, 2017 to 11.6 percent during the reporting period.

According to the report, the Royal Bank offers the highest interest rates on customer deposits as at end of February this year as its customers’ deposits attracted interest rate of 17 percent.

But Standard Chartered Bank however remained as the bank with the lowest interest on customer deposits for the same period with its rate on customer deposits is at 6.04 percent.