The Professional and Managerial Staff Union (PMSU) of adb has petitioned President Akuffo Addo to intervene in the planned merger of adb and NIB into one entity.
The workers’ union is protesting the creation of a National Development Bank through a merger of the two state owned banks.
Meanwhile the Minister of Finance says the government is yet to conclude any such decision.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, first hinted of a possible merger between the National Investment Bank (NIB) and adb to form the National Development Bank in the 2018 budget.
The action he said was necessitated to help create a development-oriented bank that can then finance the government’s vision of transforming the economy through increased investments in agriculture and industrialization.
Mr.Ofori Atta said the government earlier took a decision to merge the two banks after it emerged that both had lower capital adequacy ratios.
Speaking on the Point of View on Citi TV, the Finance Minister disclosed that government is yet to conclude a decision as to whether or not to merge adb and NIB.
“Two weeks ago, NIB did meet with the Central Bank to talk about how they are faring and we have a program meeting at the end of this week so that we will then be able to meet on the final decision on the way forward, whether to merge them completely so that it becomes one institution and start a whole new one or whether not to” he explained
But the workers’ union at adb is unhappy with the move.
The group has expressed its displeasure even though adb is yet to disclose its position on meeting the minimum capital by the December 31 deadline.
The Chairman of the Professional and Managerial Staff Union at adb, Joseph Obeng Gyan said they are anticipating a positive outcome from their plea to the President.
“We have written to the presidency as leadership of the union and we are waiting for a response from government. We have submitted a letter and other things will follow suit”, he stated.
NIB is yet to disclose its financial statement for 2016 till present.
The bank’s 2015 financial statement showed that the bank attained a profit after tax of 129.2 million cedis with stated capital of 70 million cedis which is far from the 400 million cedis minimum capital.
Meanwhile adb’s financial statement for the third quarter of this year showed that as at September this year, the bank’s profit stood at 37.59 million cedis with its stated capital at 275.1 million cedis.
But for the merger to sail through, shareholders of adb who are members of the public will have to agree since the bank is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
ADB reverted to state control in July this year when the central bank annulled shares for more than half of its shareholders.
The National Investment Bank is also 97 percent state owned.
–
By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusnessnews.com/Ghana.