ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
T here are however significant upside risks to the inflation outlook, including increased commodity prices, particularly crude oil, heightened supply chain disruptions, and the over 20 percent increase in utility tariffs set to kick in from 1st September 2022.
These are all sources of noise to the economy and the conduct of Monetary Policy 6.
As we are all aware, Significant challenges remain with the execution of the 2022 budget as revenue mobilisation has not kept pace with projections thereby creating financing difficulties.
In the absence of access to the international capital market and given the constrained domestic financing, central bank overdraft has helped to close the financing gap as reflected in the mid-year budget review.
The fiscal challenges have also accentuated 3 | P a g e debt sustainability concerns.
It is expected that the ongoing policy discussions with the IMF will help address the underlying macroeconomic challenges, restore fiscal and debt sustainability, and re-anchor sustainable balance of payments.
We cannot talk about all of these without assessing the strength of the Banking Sector: Banking sector is key for Growth and the stability of that sector should not be taken for Granted.
The remarkable resilience exhibited by the banking sector over the two-year period could be attributed to the comprehensive financial sector reforms that took place before the Covid -19 pandemic struck in 2020 .
The sector has since remained liquid, profitable, and well-capitalised.
The industry’s measure of solvency, the Capital Adequacy Ratio, has remained well above the revised regulatory 13 percent prudential limit.
Asset quality has also improved albeit marginally.
Let me now turn to the role the financial and business journalist can play in sustaining the economic recovery through confidence building.
It is generally acknowledged that the behaviour of economic agents is influenced by the economic and financial environment, which is largel y shaped by the media .
The media’s role in influencing the economic narrative is even more important during periods of heightened uncertainty when all kinds of news including fake news are rife on social media, even at times within mainstream media.
The spread of such misinformation has the potential to jolt financial markets and create panic among the general public with dire implications for financial stability.
Under such instances, business and financial journalists have additional responsibilities to help financial market participants and the general public to draw a clear distinction between facts and fiction and decide the newsworthiness of the information at hand for accurate reportage, a crucial ingredient for confidence building.
Beyond dealing with personal biases, business and financial journalists need to develop analytical skills necessary to understand the complex relationships between financial and economic variables.
It is my firm believe that w orkshops like this can help equip journalists like yourselves with the relevant knowledge of the financial sector and the nature of risks and incentives facing the sector.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, as central bank with priority for controlling inflation , the Bank of Ghana views transparency as key in promoting credibility of the Bank’s policies .
Transparency is possible when the media accurately and in the right language informs and educate the public of the exact nature of developments in the economy as well as the real implications of actions taken by policymakers.
Hence, such training workshops, which seek to equip financial journalists to play key roles in the dissemination of economic and financial information to the public, should be taken seriously.
Engagements with stakeholders also foster the creation of an informed public, whose accurate grasp of economic and financial issues are important in ensuring calm financial markets and seamless functioning of the economy.
I am aware you will be taken through topics such as monetary policy practice in Ghana; understanding inflation dynamics; balance of payments dynamics; understanding foreign exchange rate markets; central bank digital currency (e-cedi); and introduction to the summary of economic and financial data as well as hands-on exercises.
We have put together some of the finest brains in the central bank to take you through the discussions.
It is my hope that by the time you leave here, a firm foundation in central bank reporting will have been laid here in the northern zone of the country.
Before I conclude, let me indicate that the coming months will be challenging for media reporting and the country will need your support in navigating the interactions between the Government of Ghana and the IMF.
As you are all aware on 1st July 2022, the Government of Ghana announced its intention to seek support on an IMF Funded Program.
This process is not going to be a smooth sailing and I can assure you that there are going to be news worthy issues arising out of the engagement.
Your role is to begin to have authentic sources of obtaining information on the process and report these to the public in a manner that will seek to bring about confidence in the process.
We need to remember that Ghana is a Market Access Country and economic news affect sentiments.
We need at all times to have the interest of the country above all what we do.
As journalists, you must also demand a mechanism for having an update on the process and overtures can be made to Government to have a structure to brief journalists on the process.
5 | P a g e 12.
Before taking my seat, permit me to conclude by reiterating that the Bank’s sponsorship of this training workshop speaks to its commitment to improving the quality of financial and business journalism in Ghana.
This centres on our believe that a critical mass of financial and business journalists are capable of dissecting complex financial and economic data and in an accurate manner on Ghana’s macroeconomic and financial situation to help sustain the economic recovery in this period of heightened uncertainties.
Thank you and I wish you fruitful deliberations.
THE GHANA TRADE ROADSHOW SESSION WITH THE BANKING AND FINANCE COMMUNITY WELCOME ADDRESS BY DR.
ERNEST ADDISON GOVERNOR, BANK OF GHANA 1ST JULY 2022 MARRIOTT HOTEL, ACCRA 1 Honourable Minister for Finance, Honourable Minister for Trade and Industry, President of Afreximbank, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA, Members of the diplomatic corps, Chief Executives and Directors of Ghana Export Promotion Authority and the Ghana Free Zones Authority, Directors of State and Private Institutions present, Business Leaders, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: 1.
Good morning and, for those from other counties, welcome to Accra.
Thank you for the opportunity to join fellow Africans and interact with key stakeholders as we seek to advance the Intra-Africa trade agenda.
Special thanks also to the organisers, Afreximbank, Oakwood Green Africa, the AfCFTA Secretariat, and all other institutions for choosing Ghana as the next destination for the Africa Trade roadshow, following after Gambia and Sierra Leone.
I am confident that the Ghana edition will work to strengthen trade relations among our neighbouring countries and give Ghanaian businesses more access to the support that Afreximbank and the AfCFTA seek to provide.
Distinguished guests, the Africa Trade agenda – promoting free trade among African nations – has gained prominence in the policy discourse.
After several a ttempts to promote intra -African trade, African governments t ook a bold initiative to launch the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which was officially launched in 2021.
T he AfCFTA is one of the flagship projects of the African Union’s “Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want”, which aims to promote trade among 55 African countries, with a market size of about 1.2 billion people and projected US$450 billion income boost for the continent by 2035.
The main objective of AfCFTA is to create a single market for goods and services and promote the free movement of business persons and investments in Africa.
The Agreement seeks to expand intra -African trade through better harmonization and coordination of trade liberalization and facilitation regimes.
Trade remains an important driver for economic growth and development in Africa.
Intra-African trade has increased in recent years ; nevertheless, Asia and Europe remain the main trade partners of the continent.
High dependence on trade in primary goods, high product and market concentratio n of 3 exports, and weak regional production networks are among the main challenges of trade on the African continent.
The trade constraints in Africa are partly linked to small, fractured, and partially -isolated markets.
The effective implementation of AfCFTA would therefore be a giant step forward and the Agreement demonstrates Africa’s readiness to integrate into the global trade agenda.
To play a relevant role in this space, the continent must strategically position itself to take advantage of the oppor tunities AfCFTA presents.
This would require c ommitment from all countries and all stakeholders.
The Africa Trade roadshow series is coming at an opportune time to help facilitate and create the enabling environment for trade for all stakeholders in the tr ade industry in Ghana.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, African integration and development is anchored on financial sector development and access to finance and investment.
In addition to the fragmented markets, inadequate payment systems infrastructure has been identified as a major constraint to intra -African trade.
Payments within Africa are 4 mostly done through correspondent banks before reaching the recipient African neig hbour.
This comes with high transaction fees, compliance cost s, applied foreign exchange conversion rates, and liquidity costs.
Thankfully, with the introduction of the MANSA and the PAPSS platforms, financial transactions within Africa are likely to receive a boost.
Afreximbank’s MANSA platform is intended to provide secure and trustworthy means for proper verification of counterparties and due diligence, one of the main challenges facing intra -African trade today.
The PAPSS platform will give businesses in Ghana access to the entire African continent and enable them to engage in financial transactions in local currencies.
With trade taking place in the respective local currencies of these countries, demand for the dollar will significantly reduce, imp acting interest and exchange rates and strengthening our respective currencies in the process.
The role of financial institutions in the implementation of PAPSS , both as facilitators and integrators, for easy and hassle-free payments across borders, is undoubtedly crucial.
Ghana has a significant role to play in the integration of the financial system of ECOWAS.
This process includes: ( a) capital market integration; (b) regional currency convertibility/quoting and trading national currencies ; (c) harmonisation of the legal and regulatory frameworks of the banking sector ; (d) harmonisation of legislations; and (e) cross-border payments system integration.
The implementation of these reforms would ensure the development of a robust financial sector in Ghana to participate in funding trade transactions presented through the AfCFTA platform.
Ghana’s financial sector can play a pivotal role in leveraging AfCFTA to boost the country’s socio -economic dev elopment.
This can be achieved through investments in infrastructure and financial technology to support regional trade transactions.
These favourable conditions and Ghana’s position as the gateway to West Africa, among other factors, earned Ghana the rights to host the AfCFTA Secretariat.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Ghana’s banking sector is currently well - capitalised, with adequate liquidity to support transactions generated through increased trade.
The Bank has also put in place robust regulatory and supervisory frameworks to s upport in -country and 6 cross-border trade transactions .
There are also pol icies and safeguards to reduce Anti -Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT) activities and create a robust and a sound financial system to support regional trade.
Ghana’s financial sector can therefore be instrumental in meeting the funding needs of businesses in the country to trade under the AfCFTA umbrella.
In response to the opportunities that the AFFTCA presents, commercial banks are required to strengthen all risk management systems and scale-up capacity in trade finance to support the private sector.
Additionally, banks and non -bank financial institutions are encouraged to i ncrease investments in digitisation platforms as well as cyber -security systems t o facilitate safe and secure trade transactions through AfCFTA.
These institutional developments should complement the PAPSS and MANSA platforms through wh ich Afreximbank will work with local businesses and financial institutions to help facilitate intra-Africa trade.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, in conclusion, let me encourage all financial institutions here to collaborate and take advantage of the opportunities offered through AfCFTA to boost the 7 country’s trade efforts.
I w ish you fruitful deliberations with Afreximbank as we all do our part to realize the Africa we desire.
Thank you and Akwaaba once again.
1 GHANA ASSOCIATION OF SAVINGS AND LOANS COMPANIES THEME: ‘DRIVING FINANCIAL INCLUSION THROUGH DIGITALISATION: ROLE OF SAVINGS & LOANS COMPANIES’ REMARKS BY MRS.
ELSIE ADDO AWADZI SECOND DEPUTY GOVERNOR BANK OF GHANA 30TH JUNE 2022 TOMREIK HOTEL, ACCRA 2 The Council Executives, and CEO of the Ghana Association of Savings and Loans Companies (GHASALC) Chief Executive Officers and Managing Directors of member institutions Invited Guests Distinguished Guests, Ladies, and Gentlemen 1.
I am honoured to address you today as Guest of Honour for this 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of GHASALC.
I bring you warm greetings from the Management and staff of the Bank of Ghana.
We recognise the consistency and resoluteness GHASALC has displayed over the years to promote the interests of the savings and loans (S&L) industry as well as to strengthen standards of practice among its members.
This AGM is happening at a crucial era in the global economy as well as in our Ghanaian economy, with the fallout from the COVID -19 pandemic and the recent Russia -Ukraine war.
Against the backdrop of a slowdown in global economic growth, fiscal and monetary stimulus, we have seen high rates of inflation, high interest rates, and tighter financing conditions all around the worl d. For our domestic economy, the clientele of S&L companies have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic and its aftermath.
This has implications for credit risk and overall financial performance of the industry.
The role of the S&L industry in our economy has been significant, providing critical financial services to the MSME sector, the informal sector, and households.
At the end of the first quarter 2022, total assets of the specialised deposit -taking institutions sector exceeded GHS16.0 billion, of which the Savings and Loans sub -sector contributed 35.1%.
Savings and Loans companies disbursed a total of GHS3.4 billion in net loans to private enterprises and businesses in the first quarter of 2022 alone.
Undoubtedly, the S&L industry is at a critical juncture and some strategic rethinking is required by key stakeholders to reposition the industry to unleash its full potential to serve low-medium income households and the micro, small, and medium-sized business sector which is the main driver of socio-economic growth for our economy.
The theme for today’s forum “Driving Financial Inclusion through Digitalisation: The Role of Savings and Loans Companies” could therefore not have been more timely.
All around the world, technology is fast disrupting traditional business models for delivering finance all around the world and is redefining financial services as we knew them with immense benefits and some risks too.
Digitization is changing the way fi nancial institutions store and analyse data, relying on cloud-based infrastructure which offers among others, cost reduction, processing speed, integrated security, improved scalability, flexibility, and improved risk management .
The growth of digital financial services has been accelerated in the last couple of years due to the implementation of the mobile money interoperability framework and the Covid -19 pandemic, and the pace of growth will be higher going forward.
Universal banks in Ghana have rolled o ut impressive digital financial services that reach the rank and file of our population some of whom were traditionally clients of the S&L industry.
In this context, financial institutions that have not already designed, adopted, and implemented a digital transformation strategy are already behind the curve.
The S&L sector risks becoming a dinosaur as more banks reach the informal sector and MSME sector with their innovative digital financial services.
There is therefore , the urgent need for the S&L sector to take steps to reposition itself by leveraging emerging technologies to modernise their business models to meet the fast -changing needs of their customers’ needs and to remain relevant to the segment of the economy that was traditionally served by the sector.
Digitalisation comes along with its own complexities and risks, including cyber security risks, third and fourth party/outsourcing risk, data privacy breaches, technology failure risk, increased AML/CFT risks, and consumer protection risk among othe rs.
Needless to say, a lot is required by way of strong governance and risk management systems to help mitigate these risks as financial institutions exploit the benefits of digitalisation.
S&Ls will therefore need to augment their capital base in order to dig itise and deploy more sophisticated systems to help mitigate attendant risks.
Over the last five years, BoG has augmented the risk management framework for banks and SDIs in tandem with increased digitization.
These include the Cyber and Information Security Directive issued in 2018 which is currently under review, enhanced anti-money laundering and countering of financing (AML/CFT) rules, and consumer protection rules.
The Corporate Governance Directive requires that the Board o f each covered regulated institution sets up a Risk Committee that advises the full Board on the overall risk framework, and the appointment of a Chief Risk Officer who helps to manage overall risks.
Risk management requirements are in place for payment se rvice providers like fintechs, including minimum technical, governance, data protection, and transaction monitoring and fraud detection and mitigation tools.
We will continue to monitor the rapid evolution of risks in the digital financial services ecosystem and recalibrate our rules and supervisory approaches and tools to help mitigate them, while ensuring that re gulated institutions effectively manage the risks that their businesses and actions or inactions pose to the entire system.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, one of the important considerations of this AGM is to launch the Association’s Code of Ethics and Conduct for the Association.
This is aimed at ensuring the continued commitment to adhering to best practices and ethical standards 5 that would engender public trust and confidence in the activities of the savings and loans sub-sector.
The importance of having a Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for the sub-sector cannot be over emphasi sed.
We all saw how widespread incidence of mismanagement, fraud, non-compliance with rules and high standards of ethics contributed to the collapse of 420 financial institutions regulated by the Bank of Ghana, including 15 savings and loans companies.
A code of Ethics and Conduct has the potential to improve confidence and trust in the S&L sector and help to boost its fortunes.
Let me stress however that , a Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct by itself cannot work any magic without the conscious observance of its provisions and strict enforcement by the Association.
It will require a strong commitment to the values enshrined in the Code by all member institutions and their shareholders, Board, and staff.
It will require peer vigilance and co-enforcement by members against each other.
The Bank of Ghana endorses the Code, following our extensive review of earlier drafts, and commit to continuing to support the development of a vibrant and modern S&L sector based on values and cultures that promote trust and confidence and help to strengthen the stability of the financial system.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, in conclusion, the potential of the S&L sector to advance and promot e financial inclusion through digitalisation has been clearly demonstrated on the continent.
The Bank of Ghana has adopted a forward-looking approach to regulatio n and we encourage the sector to follow suit in pursuit of the advancement and development of our economy as a whole.
6 16.
Once again, congratulations to the leadership and the membership of the GHASALC.
I wish you successful deliberations.
With this, I declare the Code of Ethics and Conduct for the Members of Ghana Association of Savings and Loans Companies duly launched.
Agriculture Stakeholder Convening and Advocacy Platform Launch Theme: Redefining Ghana’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda Remarks delivered by Mrs.
Elsie Addo Awadzi Second Deputy Governor, Bank of Ghana On behalf of Dr.
Ernest Addison Governor, Bank of Ghana 29th June 2022 Kempinski Hotel, Accra 1 The Honourable Minister for Finance, Hon.
Ken Ofori-Atta The Honourable Minister for Food and Agriculture, Hon.
Owusu Afriyie Akoto The Board Chairman of GIRSAL, Dr.
Yaw Ansu and distinguished Board Members The CEO of GIRSAL, Mr.
Kwasi Korboe Ladies and Gentlemen 1.
It is a great pleasure to join you today as we launch GIRSAL’s Agriculture Stakeholder Convening and Advocacy platform.
This has come at an opportune time, given current discussions on the food production value chain and the potential role it can play to contain the current rise in inflation.
Chairman, I believe we all agree that the Agricultural sector plays a crucial role in price stability, due to the weight of food in the consumer price basket.
Since May 2021, the inflation data have pointed to gradual increase in food prices, and this trend has intensified in recent months on the back of the recent Russian-Ukraine crises.
Food inflation now stands at 30.1 percent in May 2022, significantly up from 5.4 percent in May 2021 .
Indeed, further insights in the data reveals faster acceleration of food inflation, relative to non -food inflation.
Thus, the i nability to address food su pply conditions could in the long run jeopardize the Bank’s mandate of price stability.
I t is within th is context that I find this platform useful.
Clearly, these issues underscore the fact that , promotion of a resilient and thriving agricultural and agribusiness sector should not be taken for granted because of its broader implications on the economy, including price stability and helping to stabilize our currency through reduced food imports and generation of export revenues from the sector.
Recognizing the important role of this sector to the economy therefore, the Bank of Ghana was instrumental in the initiation, design, and establishment of the Ghana Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL) and continues to support the scheme in various ways.
Between 2014 and 2016, B oG, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of Trade, and other stakeholders set out to find innovative ways to shore up Ghana’s exports and foreign exch ange resources through agriculture and agribusinesses.
Among the solutions , was for the financial sector, through BoG, to reduce the cost of financing by commercial banks in the agricultural sector.
Through joint efforts, and with the support of technical p artners such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), GIRSAL was to establish a Credit Guarantee (CRG) scheme to leverage lending for agriculture and agribusiness through a risk -sharing scheme.