Otumfuo Osei II, the Asantehene, has challenged financial institutions to introduce more innovative and business supportive products and services to enhance business development in the country.
The Asantehene said he is aware of the difficulty with which the business community accesses loans, especially long-term funds, and is of the believe that, to address the nagging issue of the high cost of credit, our universal banks should emulate the example of the Bank of Ghana in lowering interest rates.
In a speech delivered by Nana Baffuor Agyei Kesse on behalf of the Asantehene at the 5th Ashanti Business Leaders Excellence Awards Ceremony in commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of Otumfuo, organized by TOP BRASS Ghana under the auspices of Manhyia Palace, he expressed concerned about challenges in Ghana’s banking sector over the last two years that led to the collapse of some banks.
He noted that, ironically, until their collapse, all these banks appeared to be performing pretty well, as far as the average Ghanaian was concerned and adds that their demise therefore came as a rude shock to most Ghanaians, especially deposit holders and other customers of the concerned banks.
He indicated that, the Bank of Ghana as the regulator of the banking sector, took monumental landmark action to terminate the operations of the seven Banks, citing bad and irresponsible corporate governance.
He was of the view that, the Board of Directors and Managements of the seven Banks are ultimately culpable for the crash insofar as the Central Bank’s weak banking supervision function failed to detect the bad corporate governance in such a good time as to take remedial action to prevent the collapse in the first place.
He moreover, observed that, the Bank of Ghana deserves to be commended for having the courage to take the drastic action it took to dissolve the banks at the time it did rather than delay further to make a bad situation worse.
Crucially, there had long been ample evidence pointing to the precarious condition the seven Banks were in, but which the Bank of Ghana reneged in action on, he stated.
The Asantehene disclosed that, going forward, therefore, the lesson of the Bank of Ghana ought to learn from the unfortunate crisis is to be pro-active in it’s banking meltdown.
Otumfuo commended the Awards Committee as well as the Organizers, Top Brass Ghana, for a job well done, addes that, the goodwill and generosity of the Awards Scheme’s must also be placed on record with gratitude.
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