Fifteen banks are to meet the new minimum capital requirement by December this year.
This is the information available to Citi Business News from the Bank of Ghana.
This means that at least nineteen (19) banks will have to resort to various options available to them to meet the minimum capital by the set deadline.
The Governor of the central bank, Dr. Ernest Addison who made the disclosure, also explained that already six banks have met the new requirement with nine others in the process of hitting the mark.
Of this, four of the banks are on the way to meeting the requirement while the remaining five are likely to meet the capital requirement.
BoG increases minimum capital from 120 to 400 million cedis
All commercial banks have till December 2018 to increase their minimum operating capital to 400 million cedis.
Failure to do so could result in a bank losing the license or have its status reduced.
Dr. Addison was speaking at the press engagement after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Monday [July 23, 2018].
“Per the data available to us, we have six banks that have met, four banks that are most likely to meet and another five banks that are likely to meet. So straight away you could say that at the very least we could have fifteen banks by the end of the year,” he stated.
Indigenous banks seek extension
Indigenous banks have appealed for an extension of the deadline to meeting the minimum capital requirement.
They have petitioned the President over the matter seeking that the date be extended to 2022.
A committee established by the President to look into the concerns raised by the local banks, is yet to publish its findings.
Mergers in the offing?
Meanwhile three banks; Premium bank, GN Bank and Sahel Sahara bank have announced plans to merge to meet the minimum capital requirement of 400 million cedis.
Energy Commercial bank has also stated that it is going to the stock market to raise additional capital to increase its capital levels.
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By: Lawrence Segbefia & Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
