Bank of Ghana confirms all banks meet GH¢60m minimum capital requirement

…total assets hit GH¢27.2b end of 2012

All banks in Ghana were able to beat the December 31, 2012 deadline of the GH¢60 million minimum capital requirement set by the central bank.

This has pushed total banking industry assets to GH¢27.2 billion at the end of 2012, making it what the Bank of Ghana describes as “profitable” and “solvent”.

“By the end of 2012, all banks had met the GH¢60 million revised minimum capital requirement,” Dr Kofi Wampah, acting governor of the BoG, disclosed during a press briefing in Accra mid-February 2013.

According to Dr Wampah who is also chair of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, all the financial sector soundness indicators measured by earnings, liquidity and capital adequacy recorded some growth.

“Industry capital adequacy ratio (CAR) trended up from June 2012 as banks worked towards meeting the minimum capital requirement,” he said.

Dr Wampah indicated that by end of 2012, the industry CAR was 18.6%, up from 17.4% in 2011.

The banks’ total assets in 2011 was GH¢22.1 billion, growth mainly due to high deposit, according to the central bank.

By Ekow Quandzie