Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, Board Chairman of GN Bank has reiterated calls for a revision of the pension law in Ghana, to enable pension funds to be used in helping local banks meet the Central Bank’s minimum capital requirement of 400 Million Ghana Cedis.
The Bank of Ghana has given all universal banks in the country a deadline of December 2018 to meet the new minimum capital requirement.
Speaking at the 2018 edition of the Ghana Economic Forum on the theme “Building a competitive economy for sustainable growth”, Dr. Nduom said the use of pension funds to support local banks in good standing will ensure strong local participation in the banking sector.
“We created this pension scheme and now we have over 10 billion Ghana Cedis in the pension scheme. Today local banks are looking for money to capitalize to GHC 400 Million. Just imagine if the pension funds in Ghana made up of our own money, are asked to support local banks with good governance practices it will be very easy and the local banks will remain with Ghanaians.”
He argued that the purpose of a pension fund is to invest in long term instruments.
Dr. Nduom stated that such a move would have aided local banks to access funds easily at a low cost.
David Ofosu Dorte
Reacting to an issue at the same event, Senior Partner at AB & David. David Ofosu-Dorte questioned the minority’s decision to go to the IMF for clarification on over $2bn Chinese bauxite deal.
The Minority, in a letter written to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has asked the international body to clarify whether the Chinese facility should be classified as a loan.
But Mr. Ofosu-Dorte stated that the need for all stakeholders in the $2bn dollar bauxite deal, is to focus on what the money will be used for.
“It appears that in this nation we consciously disunite ourselves. So rushing to be questioning the IMF on whether or not we should be borrowing runs counter intuitive to the policy of a nation as a whole. I think we should focus on what the money will be used for and whether or not it can be paid back.”
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By: Bobbie Osei/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana