Skip to main content

Banks to build credit profile of borrowers



Bank of Ghana, the regulator of the banking sector has announced that commercial and universal banks in the country will soon be required to build conduct profile of borrowers.
According to the central bank, this formed part of a number of macro-prudential and market conduct regulatory measures to help boost credit to the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).
The First Deputy Governor of the central bank, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari said the move by the central bank is also to foster more competition in the banking sector and in the process help under lending rates.
At a 2-day training workshop organized by the Journalists for Business Advocacy (JBA) in partnership with the Ecobank Ghana held in Accra, Dr. Opoku-Afari said as a result of the measures, banks will be required to develop and publish a clear framework on the risk premium build-up that impacts on an individuals borrower's credit profile.
Apart from this, Dr. Opoku-Afari mentioned that central bank will direct all banks to set aside 2 percent of their primary reserves to support targeted lending to SMEs as part of the Enterprise Credit Scheme announced in the 2020 budget by the Ghana's Finance Minister, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta. The training is under the theme: 'Understanding Financial Sector Reforms' .
He noted that there is also an avenue to explore the possibility of setting a minimum loan to deposits ratio to ensure that more deposits mobilized by banks are channeled to viable private sector projects.
'The central bank is working closely with the banks to ensure that they do not pass on their operational inefficients and overhead costs to the clients by aligning compensation with overall bank performance,' he added.
The Head of Corporate Affairs at Ecobank Ghana,  Madam Rita Tsegah called on financial journalists in the country to write accurate on financial issues to educate the public. According to her, there are a lot that Ecobank Ghana is doing to bridge the financial illiteracy gap in the country.
'I entreat on you to help champion the financial inclusion among the Ghanaian populates,' she stated.
The President of JBA, Sulaiman Mustapha said the training program started 5 years ago when the group approach Ecobank Ghana to train the financial journalists on effective reporting.
He disclosed that next year is an election year and financial issues will be one of the Centre point for many sectors of the economy, so it is up to the financial journalists to communicate effectively about financial issue to the public.
He said financial reforms taking place in the country needs accurate reporting from those financial journalists who understand the issue to report accurately.
According to him, next year the group will start by training the members before the the general and Parliamentary election campaign starts.
The training is the 5th in series and over ver 200 journalists have benefited from the training between JBA and Ecobank Ghana since it inception.
Story by:
Fred Yaw Sarpong

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vodafone sells 45% shares in Verizon for US$130 billion

Vodafone has sold its 45% stake in Verizon Wireless to US telecoms group Verizon Communications in one of the biggest deals in corporate history. The US$130 billion (£84bn) deal was announced by Vodafone after the close of trading on the London Stock Exchange. The company will return £54 billion to its shareholders, of which £22 billionn will go to shareholders in the UK. Vodafone will also invest money in its business, with funds earmarked for high speed mobile phone networks. It said that by 2017 its main five European markets would have almost complete 4G coverage. Possibly it would be wrong to carp and wring hands that Vodafone won't be paying a penny of tax to the British taxman” Vodafone group chairman Gerard Kleisterlee said: "The transaction will position Vodafone strongly to pursue our leadership strategy in mobile and unified communication services for consumers and enterprises, both in our developed markets and across our emerging markets businesses." The...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shortage of weighing cards hit major hospitals in Accra

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong- Daily Express There is scarcity of Child Health Records Book (weighing cards), in some major public hospitals in the capital, information reaching the Daily Express indicates. Checks by this paper revealed that while some of the hospitals have being encountering the shortage for about a year now, others started experiencing it six months ago. In place of the Child Health Record Book (weighing card), the nursing mothers are given a single card on which information of children are recorded on it. Those hospitals identified are the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Korle Bu Polyclinic, Kaneshie Polyclinic, Adabraka Polyclinic and the Ridge Hospital. At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the nursing mothers are given yellow cards in place of the weighing cards. The Public Relations Secretariat at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital said such information has not come to their notice and for that matter they cannot comment on it. “We do not have some ...
Post a Comment
Read more

ABL launches chibuku super in Bolgatanga

By: Fred Yaw Sarpong sarpong007@gmail.com Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) has officially launched the Chibuku Super drink at Bolgatanga in the Upper East region with the aim of reaching a lot of customers. Mr. Thomas Nii Ponku, Supervisor in charge of Chibuku Super at ABL told Daily Express that the management decided to launch the Chibuku Super drink in the Upper East region because they’ve realized it is similar to a traditional drink in the region. “Chibuku is like a well developed pito, a traditional drink made from fermented millet or sorghum in the Northern part of Ghana. So the idea is to provide them with similar drink,” he added. Mr. Nii Ponku disclosed this when members of the Institute of Finance and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) toured the facility of ABL to acquaint themselves with the expansion project at the factory. He mentioned that after a feasibility study, they realized there is a potential market for the product in the northern part of Ghana ...
Post a Comment
Read more