The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has assured the business community of its commitment to reduce its lending rates for commercial banks in the country.
This is also expected to prompt a further drop in the lending rates of commercial banks to their customers.
The Central bank is hopeful that the move will also reduce the cost of doing business in Ghana.
The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Maxwell Opoku Afari who outlined this plan, however, maintained that the decision will be carried out where conditions permit.
Dr. Afari also believes that the implementation of the plan should propel the growth of the Ghanaian economy.
Dr. Afari gave the assurance when he addressed a gathering of business executives at an SME CEOs’ summit in Accra.
“The Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee has lowered the policy rate by 450 basis points to 21 percent and beginning Wednesday, the MPC is meeting again to assess recent developments. After the cumulative 450 basis points lowering, we have seen lending rates come down by 150 basis points. But this is less than what we expected so more will be done to bring lending rates down,” he remarked.
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana is set to commence its 79th regular meetings on Wednesday, November 22, 2017.
The meeting is among to assess the health of the economy in the light of the interventions put in place by the central bank to stabilize the local economy.
The meeting will culminate in an announcement of a policy rate on Monday, November 27, 2017.
Dr. Maxwell Opoku Afari is confident of an accommodating figure this time around.
For three times this year, the Bank of Ghana has reduced its policy rate by 450 basis points.
The policy rate which is the prime rate, at which the central bank lends to commercial banks, has dropped from 25.5 to 21 percent.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
