BoG to allow banks to announce interest rates

By: Fred Yaw SARPONG
fsarpong@theeventpr.com

The Bank of Ghana is to consider a system
that allows commercial banks in the
country to announce their own interest
rates to the general public.
According to the central bank, this is to do away
with any doubt on the part of the commercial banks
concerning Average Interest Rate published by the
central bank.
By default, the regulator of the banking sector
has been publishing the Average Interest Rate from
the banks. The idea is to inform the public about
individual bank interest rate on certain services
offered by the banks.
However, some of the banks have been coming
out to deny the figures announced or published by
the central bank.
In order for the banks not to dispute or deny the
central bank figures, the regulator said allowing the
banks to announce their interest rates on mortgage
loans, agriculture, cars, and other services will be of
benefit to the public.
At a media soiree held at the Bank of Ghana, the
Governor of the central bank, Dr. Ernest Addison
said they have had several complaints from some
banks, concerning some of the announced figures,
though it is the same management of the banks
who feed the central bank with the figures to be
computed before they are published. He promised to
deal with these issues once and for all.
Mr. Bernard Otabil, Head, Communication
Division at the central bank mentioned they had
similar encounter with Stanchart and Energy
Bank. However, they have managed to settle them
amicably.
Earlier, the First Deputy Governor, Dr. Maxwell
Opoku-Afari thanked the media for the support
given to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
throughout the year.
He called for further collaboration to deepen the
relationship between the MPC and the media. He
promised the continue support from the central
bank to the media to effectively deliver their duty.
BoG to allow
banks to announce
interest rates