The Chairman of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah, has said the country’s banking sector is safe for more investment despite the recent banking crisis.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Id7hpqkwyZ8hv7oUReOzKt0mvbxxxQl4″]According to him, the sector remains vibrant as the assets of the collapsed banks formed less than 10% of the sector’s total assets.
Analysts have said the collapse of the seven banks in the country within 12 months will take a severe toll on the country’s financial sector and the economy.
Among the fears are that investor confidence will dip due to the development, but the New Juaben South Constituency MP said there is no cause for alarm over the current situation.
“The Governor told us all that has happened. The total assets of the banks that have gone under is less than 10% of the entire banking sector, and so if we had bad assets, that will be a little below 10%, and even with that, depositors’ funds are safe. We have a strong banking sector and the financial sector in general is strong,” he said at a media interaction after Friday’s meeting.”
Mark Assibey Yeboah however bemoaned the lack of collaboration and information sharing among financial institutions and regulators.
The Bank of Ghana, the National Insurance Commission, the National Pensions Regulatory Authority and the Securities and Exchanges Commission, all regulate the Banking, insurance, investment and pensions sub-sectors of the financial industry, but the Parliamentary Committee on Finance has observed that they do not collaborate in their activities.
Finance Committee’s work
The Finance Committee of Parliament on Friday ended its 3-day sitting on the banking sector crisis from September 5 to September 7.
Representatives from the Bank of Ghana, Consolidated Bank, KPMG, PwC and the Ministry of Finance, all attended upon the committee to provide perspectives on the development.
Owners and directors of the seven banks that have collapsed, some under controversial circumstances, were not invited, according to the Chairman of the Finance Committee, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah.
Despite numerous petitions to the Speaker to open up the process and make it public, the hearing was held in camera.
Officials of the Bank of Ghana, including the Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison, appeared before the committee on Wednesday morning to answer questions about the role of the BoG, but some members of the minority including a minister under the John Mahama administration, John Jinapor, described his answers as unsatisfactory.
The committee is expected to produce a report on the matter, and include recommendations and present to the plenary, to avert a similar situation in the future.
–
By: Jonas Nyabor/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
