The Managing Director of Cal Bank, Frank Adu is calling for a decoupling of the Banking Supervision Department from the Bank of Ghana(BoG) to enhance its monitoring roles.
According to him, the department is currently under resourced hence is unable to fully undertake its responsibility of monitoring and sanitizing the banking sector.
Speaking to journalists after taking their turn at the ‘facts behind the figures’ at the Ghana Stock Exchange, Mr. Adu maintained that the Bank of Ghana’s Banking Supervision Department is heavily under staffed.
“I don’t think the Banking Supervision Department has enough resources to carry out the supervision that we need in an economy which has about 400 non-bank financial institutions, 30 banks, and IFRS is coming, which is even more complicated. I’m serious, if the Banking Supervision Department wants to do their job properly, they need about 2,000 workers,” he argued.
Mr. Adu stated that the central bank’s roles in modern economies are diverse hence require strategic moves to control the financial system.
He pointed out for example that, the Bank of Ghana is expected to find a perfect way of stabilizing the cedi, targeting inflation, announcing the policy rate and also keep its eye on the regulatory sections of all financial institutions.
This, he said has put a lot of pressure on the Banking Supervision Department, inhibiting them from properly discharging their duties.
He observed that “the economy is becoming more complicated. It’s becoming bigger. The central bank has a responsibility for financial stability, monetary policy and then you have the banking supervision and various issues”.
“I don’t think that the governor will disagree. I think it is a discussion that they have had and I think is something we must bring to the fore and discuss a little bit more” he said.
By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana