Total deposits of banks increased by 22% as at the end of 2019; according to the latest banking industry report published by the Bank of Ghana.
The central bank attributes this to a rebound in confidence in the sector following its reforms which were carried out over the past two years.
The banking sector report looked at activities undertaken by the remaining twenty three banks.
According to the Bank of Ghana, the total deposits reached 83.46 billion cedis as at December 2019; which is an increase from the 68.29 billion cedis recorded in the same period in 2018.
Domestic deposits contributed the highest of 99.6% with foreign deposits accounting for the remaining 0.4%.
Meanwhile, total assets of banks reached 129.06 billion cedis as at December 2019; up from the 105.12 billion cedis recorded the same period in the preceding year.
It is worth noting that deposits still constitute the highest component of assets of banks as they accounted for about 65% of the total assets recorded in 2019.
Again, the banking report showed that there was an improvement in credit including loans and advances which banks offered to clients.
From a contraction of 3.7% in 2018, banks’ lending increased by 23.6% in 2019.
For yet another time, the private sector dominated as the largest recipient of banks’ credit.
A further breakdown shows that the services sector recorded the highest receipt of 24.1%, it was followed by commerce and finance with 20.9%, while manufacturing recorded the least of 10.9%.
On the asset quality of banks, Non-Performing Loans, dropped by 5.2% to 6.3 billion cedis; from the 18.9% recorded a year ealier.
The improvement in the NPLs has been attributed to loan recoveries and further write-offs embarked on by banks.
The central bank says it is confident of the prospects of the country’s banking sector as paid up capital of banks which refer to the amount of money banks received from shareholders in exchange for shares of stocks, reached 9.63 billion cedis in December 2019; up from the 8.65 billion cedis.
